Giving an Angel a butterfly
by 72Bobby13
Summary: As a teen Angel, Vanessa goes and moves to another new high school after getting kicked out of yet another school because of a fight. She is a fighter and finds common ground with a new 'friend' with fighting. She gives her mother one week for this school to change her mind about going. Will she go to school on that next Monday? Have they changed her? -In-Progress-
1. Vanessa's view Day 1

Chapter ONE (Vanessa's view)

"Vanessa!" Vanessa turned in her seat and saw her mother raging mad at her door. She took out her headphones.

"What?"

"It's time for you to go to school. You're going to be late if you don't hurry." Vanessa only smirked. "I mean it. It's your first day and you won't be kicked out of this one."

"Whatever, they say that now but I will give them one week to either kick me out or to change my mind." She got up from her chair and went to her dresser to find her outfit. Her mother left the room and Vanessa grabbed a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt that said "Angle Wings" in white and silver. On the back it had the words "I've got my wings what 'bout you?" in blue. Her shoes were black boots that went to her knees and laced all the way up. She grabbed her backpack that her mother had given her and walked out the door. She got in her truck and drove to the High School. When she got out of the truck, she walked on campus and went to the office.

"How might I help you?" There was a middle-aged woman behind the counter and smiled at Vanessa.

"My mom enrolled me in this school and I'm here to get my schedule." Vanessa walked over closer to the desk.

"And what is your name my dear?"

"Vanessa Black" The lady typed on her computer.

"Ahh, Ms. Black, here is your schedule and a map of our school." She pushed a button and a boy came into the room. "Mr. Scott will take you to your first class." Vanessa rolled her eyes and then looked at the boy. He was taller than her and had on a black school jersey. It looked like a football jersey and it had the number 43 on it. The school's colors were Silver and Gold. He walked up to her and smiled. "Her first class is in Mr. Sy."

He walked toward the door and the bell rang. Vanessa followed with her arms crossed in front of her. "My name is Scott but everyone calls me Scotty." He said as he managed to break the silence between them as they walked down the halls. "What's your name?"

"Vanessa." She said silently. She never liked people and spent most of her time in her room with the door locked and windows closed or fighting in a ring.

"Have you lived here long?" He tried to keep her talking but she wouldn't make another sound. She looked to be in deep thought when he looked back at her. "Don't be nervous Mr. Sy is a great teacher."

She looked up and then looked around her. "I **never** get nervous. I'm just not a people person." She went back to staring at her feet and Scotty stopped.

"Never? I always get nervous when in a new place. Anyway, this is your home room. I'll see you around some time."

He walked away and Vanessa looked at the door. _'__If I turn away now then I won't have to be here but then I will get a load of talking to by my mother and I don't have time for that today. Well, here goes nothing.'_ She turned the knob and opened the door. The teacher, Mr. Sy, was talking in front of the class and turned his head to her as the door closed behind her.

"I forgot that I would have a new student today. Class this is our new student Vanessa. Sit where ever there is an empty seat." She looked around the room and went to the first one she saw. It was in the third row and toward the back of the room. Mr. Sy continued the lecture on what they were going to do for the week and most of the students weren't listing. He didn't seem to care though. The closest person to her was the person in front of her. There wasn't anyone that was next to her and she was the last one in the row so no one was behind her either. She took out her note-book and started to draw.

"Hi, my name is Nate, What's yours?" She didn't look up and barely heard him because she was focused on her drawing. "Did you draw that? It's amazing. I wish that I could do that."

"Hey Nate." A girl whispered from one seat over. "Are you getting this? I will need it from you tonight when I come over."

"I'll get it at the end of class, he loves me so I'll just say that I was helping the new girl."

"Ok, thanks babe."

Nate turned back to Vanessa and watched her for a minute. "You're really good. What is it?"

Vanessa finally looked up to tell him to buzz off and to not talk to her and wished that she hadn't. He had bright green eyes and he had brown hair that was unreal. She looked immediately back down at her paper and blushed a little. _'He's cute but human. I'll never go for him. He also seems to have that chick as his girlfriend. It's not like I care though right?'_ "It's an angel." It was indeed and angel but it was a dark angel. Her drawing was all in pen and Pencil.

"That's cool. What's your name?" He turned his whole body to face her now.

"Vanessa." She looked up at the clock. She still had 30 minutes to go and she decided that she still didn't like school. It was only 30 minutes in to class and she was sick of the people around her. _'This boy is cute, I'll __give him that but he's really annoying and won't stop talking.'_ She thought as she drew more on her drawing in front of her.

"That's a cool name. I'm having a party tonight, do you want to come?"

"No. I'm busy with other things." She put back her notebook in her bag and took out a notepad. It had dates and numbers written on it.

"What's that?"

She wrote down "School last's too long, going to be late to meeting." She put it back in her bag and put her head down. "Nothing."

"Well, that offer stays if you change your mind." He turned and started talking to the people next to him. She put her head on the table and she soon heard the bell ring. "Do you need help getting to your classes?"

"No, I just need to talk to the teacher." She walked with her head down to Mr. Sy.

"Yes Ms. Black, what do you need?" Nate was now standing next to her.

"She would like a copy of the notes for this week. I was helping her know her way around the school with her map." Nate said before she could answer herself. She could care less about the assignment.

"Well, I guess that you didn't get them either. Well, ok but this is the first and only time that you both get freebies."

"Thank you, Mr. Sy."

"Actually," Vanessa said as she looked back at the cute boy and rolled her eyes. "Do you know where the nearest fast food joint near here? I heard that they don't serve seniors lunch."

"I'm sure that Nate can help you with that. Rumors have it that he has connections and knows these things." He grabbed the notes off of the printer and stapled both packets. "Here you both go, remember, only one I'm giving you."

"Thanks Mr. Sy." Vanessa walked out of class and then looked around. "Room 856".

"That would be on the third floor." Nate was walking out of the room and said it as he passed her.

Vanessa looked at him as he walked away. She then looked at the map she was given. She was closest to the stairs and so she went up the two flights of stairs to get to the third floor. No one was going up the stairs and everyone was in line to take the elevators. _'No wonder they have ten minute passing periods, it takes 5 minutes to get into the elevator.'_ She thought to herself as she went into her class.

All of her classes were the same, boring things that she could care less about and stupid people that she wanted nothing to do with. It was now her lunch hour and she started walking to her pickup truck. Almost all the senior guys were going gaga all over it. She pulled her keys out and pushed the lock button and the guys jumped back in surprise as the horn sounded. Both Nate and the earlier guy, Scotty was standing next to each other. When she opened the door to her pickup, Scotty was the first to say "Vanessa, this is yours?"

She smirked as in saying _'Yeah, surprised It's a girl's truck?'_ and started the engine. Nate turned to Scotty. "You know her?"

"Yeah, I escorted her to her first class. How do you know her?"

"You idiot, I had her first class with her." Vanessa ignored the two boys and started to back up. "Hey, don't you want to know where the best food joint is!?"

She still ignored them and drove off. "I don't care if he has, so-called, 'connections' around here. I'll just go home and eat instead of risking running into those two again." She thought to herself as she left the parking lot.

When she got home, her mother was folding laundry. "Vanessa! I told you that you are going to school and not ditching!"

"Calm down mother I said that I would give it a week. This is only the first day, besides I came home for lunch."

"Oh, well, fine but you are going back." Vanessa ignored the last comment and went to the fridge to grab some left over cold pizza and went to her room. She fell asleep soon after she finished her pizza.

**~Dreams~**

"Don't worry It'll be alright, Have I ever steered you wrong?" A man said to her as he turned to her. They were walking along a lack and the grass felt good against her bare feet.

"Not yet." She replied. "Thank you, I don't know how I'm going to get through this school thing without you." Vanessa gave the man a hug and Woke up. It was time to leave so she brushed her hair and left. She got back to the school in plenty of time and she looked around the school for a while. If she saw either Scotty or Nate, she would immediately turn. "Those two are people to avoid. I don't want any 'friends' and they're trying to force it on me." She made it to all of her classes and they were all like the other ones. _'BORING, why did my mother sign me up for all of these boring classes anyway? Does she like to torture me?' _Finally the school day was over and she could be free. Unfortunately, when she turned the corner to her truck, Scotty, Nate, and a girl who was "hanging" by Nate's neck were right there.

"Hey Vanessa, there is a party at Nate's place tonight, are you coming?" Scotty said.

"No, I already invited her and she said that she already had plans. I did tell her that the offer stays until the party ends tonight though."

"YOU DID WHAT?" The girl stood and let go of his neck as she put her hands angrily on her hips.

"It's alright babe, I thought that she would enjoy meeting new people. You don't need to jump at everything that makes you jealous."

"Oh, alright." She wrapped her arms around his waist and looked at Vanessa with a '_this is my man'_ look. Vanessa knew that she would already be late for what she had plans for and didn't want to be held up anymore so she started walking towards her truck that still had the guys going gaga all over it.

"Stupid people, why do they have to be in my way?" she pulled out the keys and then pushed the alarm button and the guys looked back at her. She stopped it and got in. She went back to her house and grabbed her "training" bag and dumped her backpack on the ground. Her mother saw her and tried to talk to her but Vanessa was in and out in practically seconds. _'__I hope that they know not to try this without me.'_ She got back into her truck and drove off.

**~ Private Mountain Training grounds Building~**

"She's late." Said an Angel as he sat on his 'throne' in the main part of the practically empty building.

"Her mother made her go to school and so that's what held her up." Said a younger Angel who was many years younger than the older one.

"You're taking the defense quickly. Why does her mother insist on trying to make her go to school? She has us and she has already been kicked out of many schools already."

"I don't know Seth, but she has no choice, she's only 17."

"I know how old she is, I have known her since we were both babies!"

"Yes Seth."

Vanessa just walked in and Seth was about to hit the younger boy. "Hey, what did I tell you about hitting? Even if Eric is being an idiot, I will be the one to say whether or not he deserves to be hit."

"Sorry, It was just that he... and that you weren't... and that he..." Seth had tried to say but stuttered trying to gain his thoughts.

"That's enough. I have had to deal with too many stupid people today; I'm relying on the both of you to keep up with me tonight."

"Yes Vanessa." She looked around the room. "Seth, you go and get the walls ready."

"Vanessa, what did you bring in your bag this time?" said Eric, who was the younger of the two boys.

"Rope and Harnesses, are you ready for training?" They both nodded their head and went to the other room. There was a rock climbing wall and Vanessa hooked up the ropes and harnesses. "First one to get to the top gets to leave. If I get to the top first then you will both stay and train with me." She knew that they didn't like when she did this because if they didn't beat her then she would fight with them and they would end up with scars every time this happened. She was the best and strongest teacher for the Angels and only the best would come to her. Her mother hid the fact that her daughter was an angel and made her ware a golden necklace that said "Angels" that kept her wings hidden using a spell on the piece of jewelry. "Ready, Set," there was silence that fell in the room. "GO!" She was so angry at the thoughts of today that she was slower than she usually is. She was really distracted and had her mind other places.

A ring echoed through the room. The first one to reach the top was Eric. The next one to reach the top was Seth. He noticed this and looked at Vanessa. She had unhooked her harness and was free climbing. She was almost at the top and her grip started to slip on one hand. "Vanessa, what are you doing? You're going to get yourself killed!" When she heard these words, she pulled off her necklace and her wings spread out behind her back. She started to fall but right before she hit the ground her wings caught flight.

"You both beat me. You can both go." She walked out of the room calmly. The two boys looked at each other. They knew that she would never let them go if they both beat her. Something was up.

"You go home and get some rest. I'll see what's up." Seth said to Eric. He nodded his head and left. Seth went to the room that Vanessa was in. "What's up with you today?"

"What do you mean, and didn't I tell you to go home? You have the privilege. You beat me fare and Square."

"Come on, I've known you how long? You would never let both of us beat you and act this calm about it." He sat down next to her on the steps. "Now tell me what's on your mind."

"My mother. I can't go back to her. I can't go back to that stupid school. I can't Seth, I refuse to. It's full of people and they are just so stupid."

"Ok, what did they do?"

"They go gaga every time I pull up in my truck. This guy has a really jealous girlfriend that thinks that I'm going to steal him from her. Worst of all, they are so nice it bugs me. The classes are so boring and teach me nothing. I just wish that I could be with my dad." Vanessa said as she put her hands to her forehead.

"Don't say that. You couldn't teach me or Eric, you couldn't see us again, and speaking of your father, he's talked to you lately hasn't he? You don't get like this unless he has."

"In my dream, I fell asleep on my lunch and he told me to trust my mother in this school. I don't know if I can though."

"Well, ok, let's see how much I can be there, without being there. I could pick you up and drop you off from school. During your lunch I can take you somewhere and eat, and then I can take you back to school. You won't have to be there any longer then you absolutely have to." Seth said as he tried to help his best friend.

"I know what you're up to but I won't get back with you. I just don't feel that way anymore."

"It's not like that; I'm only trying to help a good friend." She could see it in her eyes that he had never lost those feelings but she had the second time she moved.

"Ok, but if it gets any more personal than that then it stops."

They stood up and started to walk back to the rock climbing room. "Do you want to clean this up or do you want to try again?"

"I'll just pack everything up, could you find my necklace? My mother will kill me if I came back without it. It wouldn't be the first that I've broken."

"Sure, after that I will help you pack up." They both cleaned up the area and packed up the things that Vanessa brought. The necklace was still intact and she put it on. Her wings immediately disappeared. "I just thought of something."

"What is it?" She asked as she zipped up her bag.

"I'm going to need a necklace too if I'm going to be at your school so much."

"Yeah, you're right, I'll get you one and give it to you tomorrow when you pick me up."

"Alright." They left and went their separate ways. She had told him when to pick her up. On her drive home she saw the house that would most likely be Nate's party. She was already driving down the crowded road when she realized it so she couldn't turn around so she tried to get by it without being noticed. She had no luck though, her truck was hard to miss by the guys and the streets were so crowded that she could only drive slowly.

"Hey! Vanessa! You made it!" She put her head on the steering wheel and then slowly turned her head and looked out her window. "I was almost thinking that you really weren't coming. You can part your truck in the garage and then meet me inside."

She knew that she couldn't get out of it now. Scotty yelled at everyone to make way for her to park her truck. Everyone made the way clear and big enough that she could drive. When she opened the door and stepped out of her truck inside the large garage and went through the door to the inside. It was loud with music and she looked around. "Where can I hide for the next hour or so?"

"Hey Vanessa, I thought that you weren't coming." She turned around to see Nate and his girl hanging loosely and his arm was around her waist. She was definitely drunk and he was most likely making sure that she didn't do anything stupid.

"Yeah. My plans ended a little bit ago." She turned and started looking around again.

"Who are you looking for?"

She didn't speak but she did find somewhere there were no people. It was the corner of the kitchen and hardly anyone was in there. She started walking toward it and Nate followed. When she got in the kitchen she looked at the food. _'It's probably spiked or something like that.'_ She didn't reach for any of it but she glanced at it several times.

"Are you hungry?" Nate asked as he was reaching for a plate for himself.

"No." She needed an excuse and that's where Seth popped into her mind. "I wonder what he's doing."

**~Back at Vanessa's house~**

**He knocked on the door and heard someone say to come in. He opened the door and saw Vanessa's mother. "Hi, Seth, how are you?"**

**"****Hi, Veronica, Is Vanessa home?"**

**"****I haven't seen her since she left to train you and your brother Eric this afternoon. Didn't she train with you two?"**

**"****We finished early and decided to go home. Is it ok if I can look through her room for something that may give a hint on where she might be?"**

**"****Yeah, sure go on right ahead." He went up the stairs and went into her room. He looked through her drawers and found nothing. He then spotted her backpack and looked through it. He found her notebook with her pictures in it and looked through it. "She's going to hate me for looking at these. It was then that he saw the picture that said Angels in cursive at the top and two Angels. It was the one she was working on in school and had almost finished. He could tell that one of them was her but he couldn't tell who the other one was. "One thing's for sure, it's not me. She made that clear earlier." He thought to himself and then put it back. He looked at other things that her mother had put in there as her school supplies and then found a torn piece of paper. _"1543 N. Thing Rd. Starts at 5."_ was written on it. "She wouldn't go to a party. She hates every one of their guts." He took it and then went down to Vanessa's mother Veronica. "Do you have a necklace like Vanessa's that I can where, to hide my wings?"**

**"****I have one extra. Be careful with it. It takes me a long time to make them."**

**"****Don't worry about that. I'll take special care of it." He grabbed the necklace from her hands and put it on. His wings disappeared like how Vanessa's did when she put her necklace on. He walked outside and walked to the address that was on the piece of paper. It was only a few blocks away and so he didn't mind walking. When he got there, he noticed that it was indeed a party and that Vanessa must be miserable. Seth walked in the open door and looked around the room for her. He proceeded to walk around until he spotted her rolling her eyes at some boy who was trying to talk to her.**

**~The party~**

Vanessa was "talking" to Scotty who had walked over to her as Nate left to put his girl to bed to sleep. She looked around the room still thinking of a way to get out of there and saw Seth at the doorway of the kitchen. "Seth!"

"What? Who is Seth?"

"I am." He now stood right behind him and walked around to Vanessa.

"Oh." Scotty took a step back and Seth leaned over to Vanessa's ear.

"How did you get in this mess?"

"I'll tell you later. And you are going to tell me a few things too." She turned to Scotty.

"Sorry, I've got to go, my mother needs me at home and so I need to leave."

"That's ok." She started to walk to the garage door and heard him start yelling. "See you tomorrow at school then?"

Seth and Vanessa went through the door and found the usual bunch of guys around her truck. "Watch this." She giggled and pulled out her keys. A loud honk came from the truck and all the boys jumped and looked back. Vanessa looked at Seth who only smiled. "Do you want to drive?"

"I guess I can. With that guy all over you I guess you must be hungry and tired." That was exactly how she felt when she got in the passenger side of her truck. She put her hand on the side of her head and fell asleep against the door. Seth noticed this and drove straight to her house without stopping for a bite to eat. When he arrived at her house, instead of waking her, he carefully carried her into the house and put her in her bed. Veronica gave him some dinner and then he left.

**Alright, this is the first story that I have ever posted on here. Please tell me what you think of the beginning chapter. The next chapter will be the same day only written in Nate's point of view. Every odd number chapter will be Vanessa's view and every even number chapter is Nate's view. REVIEW.**


	2. Nate's view Day 1

Chapter Two (Nate's view)

Nate was just waking up from his dreams and looked at the clock. "Shoot! It's 6:50! I'm going to be late!" He jumped out of bed and quickly got dressed. He ran to his car and drove over to his girlfriend's house.

"Why are you so late? You were with some girl weren't you? Because of you, we are going to be late to class.

"No, I wasn't with some girl; I just woke up not 10 minutes ago. I came here as quickly could. Why do you always assume that I'm always cheating on you with other girls?"

"It's just that you're almost never late. I'm sorry." Nate started the car and drove off to the school. To both of their surprise, they got there with 5 minutes to spare. "Thank you for not making me late babe."

They walked to class with his arm around her shoulder. They entered the room and sat in their assigned seats. They were ok with where they sat because most of the time one of them would switch seats with the person sitting between them and sit next to each other. Today was one of those days that they wouldn't sit together because he was going to give his Monday speech and everyone in the class needed to take the notes that he was giving for the whole week. When the bell rang the lights went off and the projector came on. He started to talk and almost no one listened to him. Nate wrote some things down and then the door to the class opened. Mr. Sy stopped talking and looked at the person.

Nate looked at the beauty that just walked through the door. He had a girl but this new one that stood at the door was gorgeous. "Look at the new girl, she's so hideous." He turned to look at his girl and she looked at him with the "Don't even think about it" look that she gave when any girl started to flirt with him. He only rolled his eyes and looked back at the girl. She was walking towards him and sat down behind him. It had looked like she didn't even notice him.

He turned to see her face up close. He was out of luck; she had her head down and was pulling out a notebook. She never looked up. "Come on, look up at me." He thought as she flipped it open. It was a picture of two Angels. "Hi, my name is Nate, What's yours?" She didn't look up at him. She hadn't made any acknowledgement that he was talking to her. "Did you draw that? It's amazing. I wish that I could do that."

That's when he heard the familiar voice beside him. "Hey Nate, are you getting this? I will need it from you tonight when I come over."

He turned to her. "I'll get it at the end of class; he loves me so I'll just say that I was helping the new girl."

"Ok, thanks babe." She looked at the girl that he was trying to talk to. He rolled his eyes; she then turned back to her friends and started talking.

Nate turned back to the new girl and watched her for a minute. "You're really good. What is it?"

She finally looked up at him so that he could see her face. She was beautiful; she had bright ocean blue eyes and they almost glowed. "It's an angel."

"That's cool. What's your name?" Nate turned his whole body to face her so that he could "examine" the rest of her. She was hot to say the least in his eyes. His girl was pretty and cute but this new girl was gorgeous.

"Vanessa." She looked up over toward the clock and then had a frown on her face. There was only 30 minutes left in class.

"That's a cool name. I'm having a party tonight, do you want to come?" Nate asked with hope but then thought that he would get a mouthful from his girl if he didn't have a better reason than the real one. "THINK! Ah, yes, I could use the excuse that she's new. That's it, ya she is new and needs to meet more people.

"No thanks. I'm busy with other things." At the answer he became disappointed. He watched as she put her drawing of the two Angels and pull out a smaller notepad. He couldn't read what she was writing.

"What's that?" He tried to take a better look at it but got no luck.

"Nothing."

"Well, that offer stays if you change your mind." He decided that she didn't want to talk anymore and that he could try again later. He turned and started to talk to his friend Brian but he heard the bell ring. He turned back to Vanessa. "Do you need help getting to your classes?"

"No, I just need to talk to the teacher." She walked with her head down to Mr. Sy.

Nate followed her knowing that he needed to get the notes and was glad that she needed to talk to him.

"Yes Ms. Black, what do you need?" Nate was now standing next to her with a smile on his face. His girl had went to the vending machines.

"She would like a copy of the notes for this week. I was helping her know her way around the school with her map."

"Well, I guess that you didn't get them either, well, ok but this is the first and only time that you both get freebees."

"Thank you, Mr. Sy" He looked at Vanessa who only rolled her eyes.

"Actually, do you know where the nearest fast food joint near here? I heard that they don't serve seniors lunch."

"I'm sure that Nate can help you with that. Rumors have it that he has connections and knows these things." He grabbed the notes off of the printer and stapled both packets. "Here you both go, remember, only one I'm giving you." Nate was happy that he had told her that. It was true and that means that she had to talk to him later.

"Thanks Mr. Sy." Vanessa walked out of class and Nate walked to the door as he heard her mumble the words "Room 856" as she looked around.

"That would be on the third floor." Nate smiled at himself and then walked passed her to meet up with his girl. When she got there, she was texting on her phone. He went up to her and put his arm around her. "This is the way it's supposed to be right? I don't need the new girl and my babe and I were meant for each other."

"Hey Babe, you got the notes?" She smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

"Ya, I got them. Are you coming early to the party?"

"Of course, I always am. I will need you to give me a ride home though. My mother is going to be working late tonight."

"Alright." He walked her to her class and then walked across the hall to where his class was. His classes weren't capturing his attention like they usually did. All he could think about was the new girl in his first class, Vanessa. It was now time for lunch and he had told his girl to meet him at his car because he had some teachers to talk to first. She was hesitant at first because that theory that he is always cheating was on her mind. She really likes him, but she hates that every girl in the school wants him. That was every reason to her that she needed to be careful and on the "lookout" ALWAYS.

After he was done talking to his teacher, he went to the parking lot. That is when he saw lots of guys crowded around an amazing Pickup truck. He went over and saw his best friend Scotty. "Hey, dude, do you know who's this ride is?"

Scotty turned his head. "No, but I just came about 5 minutes ago and saw a bunch of people around it."

"Let's wait and see who this ride belongs to." Not 30 seconds after he said that the car honked and they all jumped at it unsuspectedly. He then turned his head and saw Vanessa smirk to herself.

Scotty broke the speechless guys back into reality by saying, "Vanessa, this is yours?"

Nate was surprised. "How did he know her? Unless he got an unsuspected schedule change in first hour, he didn't have any classes with her." Finally his words caught up with his thoughts. "You know her?" He also noticed a smile across her face when she started the truck.

"Ya, I escorted her to her first class. Do you know her?"

"Of course you idiot, I had her first class with her." He looked back at Vanessa. She started to back up. "Hey, don't you want to know where the best fast food joint is?" She still ignored them and drove off. "Has someone else told her where a good place is?" He thought in confusion. He and Scotty were now the only two there. He heard his name being called and so he looked at the gate. His girl was running toward him and calling his name.

"Nate!" She looked scared. "Help!" He started to run to her and then that's when he saw it. She had a cut on her arm right below her shoulder.

"Cassandra, What happened?" It wasn't a deep cut but it cut across the arm and it was bleeding. It looked like someone had clawed her.

"I don't know, I was coming out of my class and I turned the corner. I started talking to your friend Reese and I felt pain in my arm. When I finished talking to him, it was bigger and bleeding. I knew that you would be out here so I came running to you." She put her arm on the cut. It started to hurt more. Nate saw a tear fall from her eye.

"Let's get that cleaned up. It's strange but we better get it bandaged." He put his arm around her and they walked to his car. Scotty was already by his car and when Nate unlocked it, Scotty opened the door for the girl. He then got in the back. "Scotty, we are going to that place off of 57th."

"Alright I like that place. I'll call them up and say that we're on our way."

"Thanks. Nate reached down and pulled out a white box with a red plus on it. "I'll wrap it but after school, I'll wrap it a little bit better at your house."

"All right." She smiled and then looked at her arm. It had stopped hurting when she got in the car. Nate leaned over and wrapped a cloth around it and then started the car.

They left for the restaurant and Nate saw Vanessa's truck but paid no attention to it after it turned the corner near the houses. "Wasn't that Vanessa's truck that we just passed?"

"What? I didn't see it." Nate lied so that Cassandra wouldn't yell.

That was a mistake, she yelled anyway. "How do you both know what she drives?" she then put her head down and put her hand on her arm.

"Everyone does. It's an awesome truck. Lots of guys were drooling over it when she drove off."

Nate became more nervous and cut in. "I had come out right before she did only wondering what the fuss was over. I could care less whose truck it was." He looked at Cassandra. She was in lots of pain and he could see the shine of a tear on her face. He didn't like to see her in pain. "Are you sure that you're ok?"

She shook her head yes and then He pulled into the parking lot and they all got out of the car. Nate went over to Cassandra and looked at the wrapping on her arm. It was red with blood but it looked bigger than before. He then started walking and she wrapped her arms around his waist and Scotty was already at the door, holding it open. "They already have our table ready." They all walked in and followed a waiter to their table.

"Would it be the usual?"

"Yes, thanks." Nate looked at Cassandra. She had her head on his shoulder and her arms were wrapped around his arm. "Scotty, can you go to my car and get my back pack?"

"Sure." He stood and left.

"Why do you need your bag?" She looked up at him.

"Now is as good time as any to start the assignments in first hour."

"Oh, ya that's right I need to get the notes from you." She let go of his arm and stood. "I am going to go to the ladies room."

"Alright." He now sat by himself and he waited for the others to return. He looked around and saw pictures on the wall. They were different from the last time he was there. One was a field of daisies; another was a tree that had its leaves turned red. The last one was the one that caught his eye the most. It was a hand drawn picture of an Angel holding what looked like Earth in her hands. He stared at it for a minute or two.

"Where'd Cassandra go?" Nate looked up and got the bag out of Scotty's hands.

"Bathroom, when did they change the pictures in here?" Scotty looked at him confused and then looked around the room.

"Last week I think. I heard someone talking about it in the halls." He examined the pictures. The same one caught his eye. "You know who that one reminds me of?" He pointed at the Angel.

"Which one?"

"The one with the Angel, it reminds me of the new girl Vanessa. She had on a shirt that had an angel on it. It also said that she has earned her wings or something like that." Nate opened the bag and got out his notebook.

"Really, I didn't notice. I did see her drawing a pair of Angels in class though." He started to right down the notes from class.

"She draws? Do you suppose that she drew that picture?"

"I don't know. Why don't you ask her?"

"Ask who?" Nate looked up and saw Cassandra standing by the table.

"Nate and I were just talking about the new paintings that they put up." He smiled at Nate and then Cassandra sat back down next to Nate.

She looked at Nate confused. "He said that the picture of the Angel over there reminds him of Vanessa and so I commented that she was drawing a picture of some Angels in class."

"Ya, and I was wondering if she was the one that drew that."

"And that's when I come in I guess." They both nodded and saw their food come out. "Yummy!"

"Thanks Row, you do well as always." Nate said when his plate was placed in front of him.

"Hey, Row, do you know who drew that picture?" He pointed to the Angel.

"I'm sorry, but I don't it isn't signed or anything. I'm not the one that decides what goes on the walls. All I know is that it's someone off the street because the theme of all the photos is "ordinary people" this season.

"Oh, thanks, that means it just might be her." Scotty smiled and started to eat. When they all finished, Nate paid the bill and then they all walked out of the restaurant. "We still have a good 15 minutes, what are we going to do?"

"Well, my place isn't too far from here. We can go there and I can properly bandage her wound." He started the car and they went to his house. His parents weren't home. They were off on a business trip and won't be getting back for a week. Nate told his parents that he was going to have a party and so they approved as long as it was cleaned up before they got back. He had parties often and anyone who was anyone was there. "Scotty, could you go and get my med equipment?"

"Ya sure." He turned and went down the hall.

"You can just sit here." He gestured at one of the stools near the kitchen sink. "It would be easier to clean it over here." Without making any noises, she went and sat on the stool. Nate grabbed her arm and put it over the sink. Scotty gave the med kit on the island near them and Nate opened it. He got out a wrap and gauze. He carefully unwrapped the wrap that he had put on before and out a damp cloth on it. He whipped the blood off and got a good look at it. It was longer and now spread from one side to the other on her arm. It had gotten a little deeper too. I didn't get thicker though; it was still a bit larger than a paper cut. He put the gauze on and wrapped it up.

"Thank you." Cassandra kissed his cheek and hopped off of the stool. Scotty was getting some food out of the fridge and Nate scowled at him.

"What? I'm still hungry."

"Those are snacks for the party, and you have eaten already. You don't need any more for now. Now let's go back to school." He grabbed Cassandra's hand and walked toward the front door. Scotty put back the food and ran to catch up to them.

It was now the last class of the day and he was so pumped for his party. He had been distracted by a lot of things through out that day. The new girl Vanessa was one of the big ones that consumed his mind most of the day. Another one would be the mysterious cut that Cassandra has, but he wouldn't let either of those things bother him because he was focused on the party.

In his last class, he didn't have any of his friends that he hangs with, just some people that adored him. They kept asking him about the party but he only smiled and told them just to come and enjoy. When the bell rang he rushed to the parking lot and saw Scotty waiting. "Hey, let's surprise Cassandra and wait right behind the gate."

"Alright, she is your girl. If she explodes in anger it's all on you.

They went and waited for her to come. It was a minute or so before she walked out of the gate. She looked where the car was and frowned. She started yelling. "Great, he's probably with some chick and forgot all about me!" Nate looked at Scotty who looked just as confused as he did.

"How could she go from we're not there to me making out with a random girl?" Nate would never understand her logic but he quietly walked behind her and wrapped his arm around her and put one of his hands on her mouth. She tried to scream but when his hand went over her mouth she stopped.

"Now why would I go and do that if I have my girl right here?" He whispered in her ear and she smiled. He let her go and walked back to where Scotty was. "And what did I tell you about that stupid jealousy? I'm not cheating on you." She frowned and then hugged Nate tightly.

"I'm sorry I don't do it on purpose."

"It's alright. Just don't get worked up so much. I am a loyal person." She looked up at him and smiled. "Ok?"

"Ok."

"Well, I'm hungry and now that we are all happy can we go and eat something?" Nate started to laugh and they all turned to go to the car. Vanessa walked the corer the same time Scotty started to walk.

"Hey Vanessa, there is a party at Nate's place tonight, are you coming?" Scotty said.

"No, I already invited her and she said that she already had plans. I did tell her that the offer stays until the party ends tonight though." Nate felt disappointment run through him. He then realized what he had just said and knew what was coming next.

"YOU DID WHAT?" The girl stood and let go of his neck.

"It's alright babe, I thought that she would enjoy meeting new people. You don't need to jump at everything that makes you jealous." He acted upon instinct and said the excuse that he had made up earlier.

"Oh, alright." She wrapped her arms around his waist and looked at Vanessa with a "this is my man" look. Nate looked at Vanessa hopefully, but realized that she didn't notice. She started to walk to her truck and he was left with little hope that she would come to the party. "Come on guys. I need to start getting ready for the party." She pulled Nate to walk forward and he got the hint. He dove her to her house and then Went to his house with Scotty. He had started on the cleaning and Scotty had started on the food.

"Scotty? We're saving those for the party. That's your last one till it starts."

"Fine, I'm hungry though."

"Then go and by something at the store with your own money." Scotty only frowned. "That's what I thought." Nate went into his room and started to get the keys to the bedrooms. Every bed room had a lock on it so that when he through his parties, no one would mess them up or go through them. They each had their own key, that way, if someone got a hold of one of them they couldn't get into all of the rooms. He locked all the doors and then went back to the kitchen where Scotty was. He was now putting the bags of chips into bowls and put them all on the counter. "That should be good." Scotty looked up at him and smiled at him.

"Does that mean that I can have some?"

"No." Nate looked at the time. it was about time that Cassandra would be coming over. He went through his check list and saw that the only thing he had left was that he needed Scotty to go get some ice. "Scotty, here is some money, get me 3 bags of ice and bring me back the change. I expect that you will buy nothing more then needed and not use my money to buy yourself a snack."

"Alright, I'll even bring the receipt for you." Scotty went through the door in the kitchen and found Cassandra parking her car. "Hey, I'll be right back, I need to go get some ice." She nodded and went into the house. Nate was sorting through some papers in his backpack. he pulled some papers out once in a while.

"What are you doing?" She went and sat next to him on the couch.

"I'm trying to find some pictures that I drew in class today. One of them was for you." He smiled knowing that she was now speechless and staring at him. He lied but only because he knew that she would shut up after he told her. When he pulled all of the pictures that he had drawn that day out of his backpack, he looked through them trying to find one that was ok for him to give to her. They all seemed to be related to Angels. He finally had found one that didn't and looked it over. It was a picture of a butterfly and it was on a rose. He gave it to her and she was even more out of words. He put all of the pictures back in his bag and turned on the TV.

"Thank you, I knew that you cared for me." She looked down at his open bag and saw the others were of Angels. "Why did you draw those?" She came to the conclusion that he drew those because of that new girl.

"I got board in class like I always do. It's nothing special." Nate then started to think to himself, "She doesn't know how right she is if she is indeed thinking of Vanessa." She then grabbed her arm in pain and put her head down. He wondered why it started again. She had it still bandaged and it looked to have dried blood on it. "Are you ok?"

"Ya, It's weird, It doesn't hurt usually, but when it does it feels like it's getting bigger or deeper like someone's cutting me over and over."

"Strange." Nate stood when he heard Scotty pull up. He helped him with the ice and they all waited until the party started. Not 30 minutes afterwards, the party was in full swing. Nate kept a close watch on Cassandra the whole night. The last time he through a big party, she got drunk and could barley walk. This time it seemed no more different. Her excuse to him this time was that she needed to get rid of the pain in her arm and getting drunk would rid her of didn't see any reason for getting drunk, himself. When he was walking to the kitchen, he saw the door open and Vanessa come in. He couldn't believe it. She had actually come. "Hey Vanessa, I thought that you weren't coming." He had regretted that his girl was drunk and had to now hang around his waist.

"Ya, my plans ended a little bit ago." She turned and started looking around. It looked like she was looking for someone.

"Who are you looking for?" He followed her to the kitchen where she stood in the corner. He noticed that she kept taking a glance at the food that was on the counter.

"Are you hungry?" He asked as he was reaching for a plate for himself. He too was hungry.

"No." Despite her denying that she was hungry, he knew otherwise she eyed the food like she wanted some.

"She must think that it's drugged or something like that." He thought as Cassandra had realized her surroundings. Before she could realize anything else, he took her up his room to sleep. He sat in a chair at his desk. He pulled out the pictures of the Angels that he drew during school and started working on them again. He thought to go and ask Vanessa if she was the one that drew the picture in the restaurant but decided against it so that he could keep an eye on Cassandra. After hours of loud music, it all died down and people left. The only ones left now were Nate, Cassandra, and Scotty. Cassandra was sleeping in his room and Nate left her to sleep and help Scotty clean up. It was cleaner than the last time but that's not saying much. At least this time, he didn't need to call people to fix a window or two. When they were done, Scotty left and Nate fell asleep on the couch in the living room.


	3. Vanessa's view Day 2

Chapter 3 (Vanessa's view)

It was now 4 in the morning and Vanessa was lying on her bed staring at the ceiling. She couldn't stop thinking about the hours to come. She was glad that Seth was going to take her to school and take her away from it too. She hadn't had much sleep, only a few hours at most. She turned her head to the clock. 4:05 A.M. She decided that if she couldn't sleep then she would go out and train for a few hours. She opened the door to her balcony and looked up at her roof. Stepping out on the ledge and grabbing the rope to get her on the roof, she felt someone go up next to her. "Are you sure it's wise to do that now? You only have 2 hours until I'm supposed to come and wake you. I know that you won't be ready to quit training then."

She put her head down and said. "I guess you're right. I have been up for a while but couldn't go back to sleep so I decided on this." She turned around and hoped down from the railing of her balcony. "And why may I ask that you are here so early?" He opened the door for her to go back into her room.

"I'm here because your father informed me that you would need that advice. He woke me and I came here." He closed the door behind him.

She looked at him with her head tilt to the side. "You spoke with my father?" She went and sat on her bed. "The only time recently that I have spoken with him was a few nights ago and that was the first time I have spoken to him in months." She frowned and Seth sat next to her.

"This has been the first in a while and all he told me was that you would need to be stopped from starting your training and he also told me that I need to trust that this school will be good for you. He also said that I may not like the outcome that much but it's best for you and so I trusted him." He put his arm around her and put his head on hers. "It's going to be ok." He let go of her and then crossed his arms. "He also told him to stop hurting a girl named." he paused trying to think of her names. "Ah, yes, He said to stop hurting a girl named Cassandra. Do you know who he's talking about?"

She thought for a minute. This Cassandra girl might be the girl that Nate's dating. "I think I do." She smiled at what she did. It was a brilliant plan. They could never find out who or even why it was happening. Every time that girl felt jealousy because she came to conclusions, she would feel pain and a cut would appear on her arm.

"What did you do, more importantly, why? You always say that those people are not worth your time so why attack her?'

"She is the most stupid, arrogant, most possessive person that I have met and she is dating this guy that hates it when she is that way. I don't understand why he's dating her." she immediately regretted saying that. She knew that he would now think that she was jealous if this girl and think that she was only thinking about her negatively.

"Sounds like you're jealous."

"I am not I just don't think that any person should have to deal with that. I could see how much pain he was in when she got like that so I thought that it would be nice to see her in just as much pain. I knew that if I did it mentally it would only hurt him more so it would have to be physical. It would heal once she stopped her jealousy rampage." She knew that it still seemed as though she cared for this guy that she talked about.

"Ok, I know that you can't even remember her name but what is his?"

"Nate." She stopped after that. He was right she did remember that worthless human's name. She could never do that and would never put the effort to do that before. She couldn't even remember the name of his friend that hit on her at the party.

He shook his head knowing what her father was talking about when he said that he may not like the outcome of it. "So you do care for this person."

"No." She stood and walked over to her desk. "Thank you for finding me last night." she said trying to change where this conversation was going. "I couldn't find an excuse to get out of there."

"Oh, that's alright. Who was talking to you? It couldn't have been Nate; you looked too annoyed and uncaring."

"I can't remember his name but he's friends with Nate. He was hitting on me until you showed up." She took out her drawing of the two Angels.

He saw what she was taking out and then decided that it was now or never. "What is that?"

She turned to him with an unreadable expression on her face. "Come on, you would know more than anyone, going through my things and all."

"How did you?"

"You think that you coming to that party, where I just so happen to be trapped at, was just a coincidence?" She smirked as he still looked confused. "You also dropped your ring in my bag. How else could it get there?"

"I'm sorry, I came to see if you were alright and all and your mother said that you weren't home and had said that she hadn't seen you yet. I got worried so I came in and looked around to see if I could find anything. Before I left, your mom gave me a necklace so that I can show myself in public."

"Well, I'm glad that you came, I couldn't see a way to get out of there without making a scene."

He smiled thinking of why she hadn't. She had no problem doing it in the past. "It was Nate's friend that was talking to you right?"

"Yes but don't even think that it was because of him that I didn't make a scene." She knew that he was probably right though. She didn't think of why she hadn't made a scene, it just didn't occur to her at the time.

She sat there trying to finish that drawing and he lied down on her bed with his hands under his head. She looked at the time and it was already 6:30. She looked at her bed and to her surprise, he wasn't there. She heard her mother's footsteps and she opened the door. "Vanessa, Seth is here and is ready to take you to school, you should be getting ready."

"Fine, but remember, I still have only 6 more days left for them to change my mind." Her mother closed the door and she got dressed. Her shirt was a form fitting dark blue shirt and it had a silver stripe going from her right shoulder to her left side. She had on a pair of black, loose fitting Capri pants and a pair of tennis shoes. She got her bag and left. When she got down stairs, Seth was sitting on the couch. "I'm ready to go. We still have time so do you want to eat something?" He stood and nodded. He went to the front door and opened it.

"Where do you have in mind?" She looked at him and realized that he didn't want to be there any longer.

"Oh, what my mother might have said to him." she thought as she went outside. "Where ever, It's fine by me as long as they serve at this early hour."

"Well, traveling through this neighborhood yesterday I found this dinner and they said that they are open 24 hours a day except on Sundays." She got into his truck and he started it. She always liked his truck. Yes, her truck was cool but his felt safe and it had many fond memories of them. It didn't take long for them to get there and they sat down at a table near the entrance. "I can tell that you are still tired. You may not be able to sleep but you are tired."

"Hello, how may I help you on this fine morning?" said a man with black hair and blue eyes. He didn't look to be older than 25. "Have you chosen what you would like to drink?"

"Um, yes, I would like to have an orange juice." Seth said looking to the waiter.

"Alright and for you?"

Vanessa looked at the menu. "I would like citrus lemonade."

"On its way." He left and they sat there for a few minutes. When he came back, he took their order and left again.

They sat in silence for a while. They both looked at the door as it opened and closed. Vanessa looked around the dinner. A picture of an Angel caught her eye. She didn't remember drawing that. Only one other could draw that. "Vanessa, what time do you want me to pick you up for lunch?"

They heard the door open but didn't look. "Hey, Vanessa, I wouldn't expect to see you here." She looked up and saw the guy that was hitting on her the night before. He turned and looked at Seth. "I don't believe I got a chance to meet you last night. My name is Scot but my friends call me Scotty. I go to school with Vanessa."

Seth looked as annoyed as Vanessa did when he saw her talking to her the night before. "I'm Seth."

"Oh yeah, that's right we were talking about you last night right before you showed up." He turned his head to behind him. "Hey, Nate, look at who I found here."

Vanessa whipped her head around to find Nate walking over to a table that his girl was already sitting at. He looked even more shocked than Scotty did. He whispered something to the girl and went over to where they were. "Hi."

"Hi." Vanessa looked at Seth. "This is my friend Seth."

"Hi, I'm Nate."

"Hi." He looked and smiled at Vanessa. "Who is that over there?"

"Oh, her? She's Cassandra, my girl." Nate looked over to her and smiled. "Vanessa, we've been meaning to ask you if you were the one who drew that drawing over there."

"No, but I might know who did." She frowned. The only other one that could have drawn that was her father.

"Really? Who was it?" Scotty asked.

"I think that it was my father."

The waiter came over with their food. "Oh, hey Nate, I didn't know that you knew them."

"Oh you didn't mention that you knew me? Hm. Well, I do know them, personally and their check is on me ok?"

"Alright. Miss, here is your breakfast and here is yours sir." He put the plates down. "I will be right with you Nate. I just have a few tables to serve first."

"Oh, no rush."

The waiter left and so did Scotty. "So, Nate, how do you know Vanessa?"

"School, I have first hour with her and she sits behind me. How do you know her?"

"He and I grew up together." Vanessa said wanting to end the conversation.

"Really, I got the impression that she doesn't like people."

"She doesn't, or at least not since she first moved. Do you want to sit down?"

"Oh, no I best be getting back to Cassandra. She gets jealous easily and I don't think that she likes me spending this much time over here."

"Sounds like she's not that good of a girl then."

"Eh. Well, it's been nice meeting you." He turned to Vanessa who was almost done eating. "I'll see you in class."

She gave him a nod and kept eating. "He seems nice. I see what you mean by her being who she is. He's not even sure of his feelings any more. I can feel it. Never the less, you need to do what your dad said."

"Fine." She put her hand out towards Cassandra's direction. She did a grabbing motion and took her hand back. "It will heal in the next hour. It won't cause her any more trouble."

"Well, I'll get this to go. I spent too much time talking to those guys. You're right about a lot of things about them for not caring about them."

"They pry too much. They also let their lives be open books." She finished her meal and stood. Seth gave her the keys to his truck.

"I'll be there for a minute." She took them and went for the truck. She looked at the drawing and then frowned. It was her father that drew that. As promised he arrived shortly after she got in the truck. He took her to school and on the way, it was complete silence. When they arrived he said nothing and she got out of the truck. There was a good 5 minutes till the bell rang but she went straight to her seat. When the ball rang, Nate came in with his girl. She sat down and almost made a scene that he didn't sit next to her. Vanessa dismissed it and thought nothing of it. When the bell rang for the class to start, Mr. Sy Started giving his speech of the day and she started drawing. She told her mother that she would give them a week and nothing was giving her any reason to try or stay. She noticed that Nate was watching her draw and she ignored him for the most part. It wasn't until he put a picture of an Angel on her desk that she looked up at him.

"I drew this and thought that you would like it. It's not as good as yours but I thought that you should have it either way." She was shocked but didn't show it for a second. She was also impressed. It was actually better than the other ones that she had seen in the past. She stopped what she was doing and took the drawing.

"It's not really all that bad. You could do a bit more with the wings though. They aren't full enough." She gestured to her drawing. "You see how in my drawing, the wings are full and more life like? You need to picture it as if it were real and not just a fantasy."

He looked shocked that she was talking so much. Vanessa realized that she was opening up and closed her mind again. She can't possibly have feelings for this human. She was not going to be week. She gave the picture back to him and started on her drawing once more. It was almost complete and all she needed was the faces. He looked at her and then back at his drawing. "Oh, no you can have it if you want. I don't need it."

She looked back up at him with an intense stare that could make anyone tremble out of their seat. "Keep it, improve on it and then you would have learned from it." She looked at the clock. It was nowhere near time to be packing and leaving. She would once again have to endure another long morning with him. Thankfully, Mr. Sy told the class to work on the weekly packet and Cassandra came over to sit by him.

"Hi, my name is Cassandra. I don't believe that I have formally introduced myself. It was you that was at the diner this morning wasn't it?" Vanessa rolled her eyes and looked back down at her drawing. "Hm, not much for talking hu? Well, that's alright." She backed off and Nate turned around in his seat so that he was now facing the front of the class. The bell soon rang and Vanessa got out of there as soon as she could. She could not risk them talking to them again.

She spent most of the rest the morning avoiding them and was succeeding in doing so. She was now leaving her 3rd hour to go to lunch. She went out of the gates and couldn't spot Seth's truck yet so she waited for him. She watched as people went by and some guys were disappointed when they saw her and her truck was nowhere to be found. Seth was just pulling in the parking lot when Nate and Scotty were coming out of the gate. They saw Vanessa and walked towards her. She really didn't want to talk right now but they get to her before Seth did. "Hey, where's your truck?"

"Seth is picking me up today."

"The guy that was with you at the diner?"

"Yes, now if you'll excuse me, he is here and I shall be leaving." She looked at Nate and saw the he had wanted to talk to her more but she tried to not show that she cared. When Seth pulled up seconds later, she got in and smiled at Nate as they left. "I hate people. I don't care if they want their lives to be open books; I don't want mine to be."

"What? Vanessa what happened before I came?"

"Well, thanks to you they got to me before you did and they tried to talk to me and get into my head again. I do feel sorry for Nate, I will admit that much, but they don't have to try and be my friend I have done nothing but avoid them and all they want to do is talk to me."

"Well, it is lunch and you have an hour. Where do you want to go? We don't have enough time to start training right now so what do you want to do?"

"Let's go home, I don't want to risk running into them like we did this morning."

"Alright, I'll make you something and we can just sit around your room like old times." He turned to face her when they came to a red light. "It's going to get better."

"I know. I put my trust in my father. I don't like that he can see the future though, it can be a real pain." It took only a few minutes to get back to her house. She hesitated but got out of the truck. She knew that if she got out of the truck, that would mean that it was reality and not just a bad dream.

"Hello Seth, I didn't expect to see you this early."

"Hey Veronica, I just brought her home for lunch. Do you have any of that nacho stuff?"

"Of course, I'll heat some up and bring you guys up a few bags of chips."

"Thanks." They went up the stairs and into her room. She put the Television on and Seth sat at her desk and she sat on her bed. A few minutes later, Veronica came up and gave them the nacho cheese and chips. "So, Vanessa, How was your morning?"

She sighed in frustration. "Well, after you dropped me off, I went to my first class. Nate's girl almost made a scene about Nate sitting by her. He then showed me a drawing that he did of an Angel. He tried to give it to me but I gave it back to him and told him how he could improve on it. His girl then came along and introduced herself to me 'properly'. She doesn't like me, that's for sure." She lied down on her bed and put her hands behind her head. "Why are girls so jealous all the time if what they are jealous of isn't theirs to begin with?"

"I don't know but I wouldn't get buddy buddies with her."

"Ha, you expect me to be buddy buddies with those stupid humans? The only human that I tolerate is my mother and I still don't trust her like I do you and my dad."

"Well, if you are going to stay at the school then you will have to make peace with them eventually."

"And what makes you so sure that they will change my mind to go there?"

"Because you have feelings for Nate, wither you will admit to it or not. I have seen the way that you two act around each other. Trust me; he forgets that he even has a girl when he's with you unless she lets him know that she's still there. She has a right to be jealous about you."

"Do I have to go back today?"

"Yes, you do. I won't be late getting there and I will take you to the training grounds as soon as the school ends." The thought of her going to the training grounds put a smile to her face. Being able to fight something without holding her power back made her happy. She started to drift off into sleep but was suddenly awoken by Seth carrying her down the steps. "It's ok, you were asleep for awhile and it's time to start heading out."

"What? I just was about to doze off."

"Actually you were sleeping for a good 45 minutes."

"It doesn't feel that way."

"Well, you only have to be away from the grounds for 4 more hours."

He opened the door to the garage and put Vanessa down. She hazily walked to the truck and when she got in and closed the doors she fell asleep again. The next time she woke up, the truck had stopped and she was outside of the school. "Thanks Seth, I don't know how I would do this without you."

"It's alright, see you in 4 hours." She got out of the truck and went to her class. She spent most of the class blanked out in her own mind; she daydreamed about the training grounds. On her way to the parking lot after her last class, she made the mistake of going straight to the parking lot, not realizing that Nate and his friends were there.

"Hey, Vanessa, have any plans after school, my friends and I were going to go to the ring. I thought that you might want to join."

She heard one of the guys say something about that she was only a girl and that she could be no match of a fighter. She gave a slight chuckle. Pounding the brains out of these weaklings wouldn't be too hard but then she thought about the real challenge that the training grounds would have. "Sorry, what's the ring?"

"It's the fighting ring. We are going to be fighting in the tournament on Saturday and I thought that if you didn't have any plans then you could come and watch us."

She smiled at the thought of winning that tournament. No one would expect her to win. Then the thought that they had actual rules turned her completely away from that. "Sorry, I rather train with actual competition." She then walked away with her head held high. She heard heavy footsteps coming behind her.

"Train? Train for what? I didn't know that you fight."

She stopped and turned to him. "I train to get stronger. Those friends of yours over there, wouldn't last a minute in the ring with me. The only reason that I won't go is because you guys have safety rules. Where I come from, there aren't any rules except to not kill anyone." She turned and started walking again. It was bugging her that she was stopped twice by the same person and that meant that she couldn't start fighting until she got there.

"Hey, you said that you could beat my friends up in less than a minute is that true or are you just saying that? I want to know where you train."

"I was telling the truth about your friends but I will not show you where I train." She now needed to punch something, anything. What would it take for him to leave her alone?

"Could you at least come over some time to my place to show me that it's true? I don't care when, as long as nobody else knows about it. "

"Sorry, I have plans." She gave him a smirk and went through the gates and found Seth waiting for her. "Hey, Thanks for being on time this time. Let's get going." She got in the truck and they went to the Training grounds. They were meant for people like Vanessa and Seth. Most of them were Angels but others were all sorts of species. "I would like a room for two under Vanessa from Angels." Vanessa said to the man behind the desk.

"Ah, Lady Vanessa, I haven't seen you around lately, have you moved again?"

She gave a sigh. "Yeah, it will be another 6 days until I will be free again. Any way do you have my room?"

"I do, and it has been recently cleaned. Here are your passes and do you have your room key?"

"I do, thank you."

"No problem, I hope to see you soon." Seth and Vanessa went down the hall. Many people used the public training area but she preferred her private training room better. Not as many people in the way and a lot less crowded. She got her own room when she was young and her father made sure that it was kept up. She was ranked high in the training grounds as an elite and trainer. She only trained the new trainees that were to train others and she liked to train by herself most of the time. When she got there, she turned on the lights; it was just as she remembered it. In the center was a boxing ring, on all 4 sides were wall climbing walls of different difficulties, and around the ring, there were all sorts of exercise equipment. It was big to say the least. "So, what shall we do first?"

"I think that to get warmed up we should race on the rock walls and then we can start fighting."

"Alright, do you want wings or no?"

"No wings, I want to be challenged. I have never done this without wings so let's get suited up." He went over to a door that was on the other side of the room. It had Showers and a supply closet. He grabbed the harnesses and threw one to Vanessa. She put it on and they both got ready as they both wanted to start the race. When they both got in, Vanessa pushed a button and the red light above them started blinking. It soon turned a bright yellow and then a flashing green that signaled for them to go. The first one was fairly easy to climb and she went back down. Right before she unhooked herself she heard a siren that signaled that Seth had gotten to the top. She quickly rant to the second wall and started to climb. This time it took her a little more time but when she reached the top, Seth was only half way up the wall. She then went down and went to the next wall. It took her more time than she would have liked to go up and when she reached the top, Seth was close behind. She hurried to go to the fourth and final wall and when she reached the middle of the wall, Seth was just getting to it. She slowed her pace down a bit to catch her breath and started to climb. She knew that when she was almost to the top, that it took her more time than ever and Seth was right beside her. It would be a race to the button. She climbed down the rope and started running. She was grateful that she had enough energy to sprint to the red button. She had won the race with only seconds to spare. When she hit the button, she collapsed on to her knees. "Wow that took more time that I expected."

"I'm not as good as I used to be, yes. I am more worn-out than I have been in months. I can't believe that this move has taken this much toll on my training." She said in between breaths. Not only was she rusty but Seth was too. He had one arm out straight in front of him that he leaned on the wall with.

"Are you ready to fight or do you want to wait a little to get your energy back?"

She was Shocked that he would ask that question. "Of course I want to fight. I need to push myself." She stood up and took off her harness. When walking into the ring she looked back at Seth. He was still trying to get the harness off. He also was still out of breath. "Do you want to catch your breath?" He looked up at her and he finally got the strap to come off. He took off the harness and walked to Vanessa. He had a slight limp and she took note of it as he got in the ring.

"No, I'm fine. I think that I'm more out of shape than you though."

"Don't worry, we can fight tomorrow." She sat down in the middle and he sat in front of her. "Now what's wrong with your leg?"

"Nothing, I just think that I hit it coming down from the last wall. She looked at it. He was cut but not bleeding that badly.

"Stay here." She jumped off the ring and went to the closet. "You need a bandage and probably a brace by looks of you limping." She came out of the closet with her first aid kit. She cleaned his cut on his knee and wrapped it.

"Thanks."

"No problem. We should get out of here. You still need to take me home." She smiled and stood up. He grabbed her hand and pulled himself up. They locked up and went out of the training grounds. When they got to her house, He wasn't limping anymore. Well, almost not limping. If you knew what to look for, you could tell that he was only pretending not to be limping. "Hey Mom."

"Vanessa, I thought that you would be at the training grounds. Why are you back so early?"

"Sorry, Veronica, I hit my knee pretty hard when training and so we stopped." He sat down on the couch and Vanessa sat on the recliner next to it.

"That's ok. You're alright right, nothing broken or strained?"

Vanessa rolled her eyes. Angels didn't get hurt like humans did. They barely got sick or got seriously injured. Angels also healed quicker than Humans. "No, mother. He broke his leg and that's why he's walking on it." She said sarcastically. "He's fine. He'll be better tomorrow."

"Oh, ya sorry, I forgot. So, do you two have any plans for tonight?"

"Not really. Why? Do you have plans?" Vanessa asked curiously. Her mother never had plans.

"Well, yes. I do have plans so to let you both know; I won't be home tonight to cook you both dinner." She turned to the kitchen and left.

"Plans? She never has plans. Unless she's taking me out of that retched, horrible place that they call a school. And I don't think that she is."

"Maybe she found someone. She seems a whole lot happier today."

"No, no way. She hasn't met anybody! She has a work thing, or a volunteer type thing that she likes to do." She refused to think that she met somebody. Her father was still in her mother's dreams every night. She knew that. Her mother loved it and liked to talk about it on many occasions.

"Well, we could just ask her."

"She will tell us tomorrow. If it goes either terrible or fantastic, I will hear about it." She stood and held out her hand to Seth. "Come on. I can't stand being in here. It's like I'm a total stranger to this house and I don't like it. I only like my room." They both walked up her steps and to her room. She had helped Seth walk because he was still in much pain. "So, what you want to do?"

"I don't know." He then got a smile that spread across his face. "Did you get any invites to any parties tonight?" he asked playfully.

She rolled her eyes. "No, I didn't I don't care for them either. I was only trapped into the one last night and I don't plan to go through that again. That wasn't my plan to get trapped into that." She than thought for a minute. "I did get asked to do something though."

"Really? Did Scott finally ask you out?" He said sarcastically. "Or did Nate?"

"Neither! You are full of it you know!" She flopped on her bed. "Nate wanted me to beat him up or something like that. He doesn't want others to know though. He kinda doesn't want to have his girl go on a jealous rampage."

He looked both shocked and confused. "He asked you to what? Hold on for a second. What lead to that?"

"Ok, so I was going to the parking lot after school and I accidently walked passed him. He asked me if I would like to come and watch him and his friends fight at the ring. I said that I couldn't and that I would rather train with actual competition. I started walking away and he ran after me and stopped me. He was shocked that I train and he had asked me if I could show him my moves at his place sometime. As I said before, I can't let anyone know that I would be doing this if I did it." She looked at him now instead of the ceiling. "We could do that. You can watch me beat him up. I will be fun."

"Umm. Are you sure that you want to beat him up? You do like him."

"I would rather be beating him up than making out with that sorry excuse of a man. The only problem is, I don't have his number so that I could ask him if it's ok." She thought for a minute and the room was silence. "Oh, I know. That little torn piece of paper that was in my bag that you got. It had both his address and his number on it. Do you still have it?"

"I think it's in my truck. Here's my keys. If it is in there, it would be in the glove box."

"Thanks. I can beat another person up." She was excited. No matter how much Seth said that she liked him, she couldn't see it. He was hot and all but he has a girl. He likes his girl. He doesn't want her instead of his girl. She didn't like him. She didn't like his girl even more and she didn't like how he carried himself. It was true that he had a right to carry himself as if he was the coolest man alive because everyone knew him and everyone liked him. Everyone except her. She had the keys in her hand running down the stairs and to his truck parked next to hers in the garage. She unlocked the doors and looked all around in the glove compartment. It wasn't there. She then looked all around the seats. She then saw a little crumbled up piece of paper on the floor by the petals. It was the paper. She took out her phone and called the number written on it.

"Hello? Who is this?" She automatically knew that it wasn't Nate that answered. "Hello?" It was definitely Cassandra's voice. Vanessa hung up the phone. She couldn't talk to her. She couldn't know about it. She heard her phone ring. She checked and it was Cassandra calling back. She declined the call and then got out of the truck, locked it, and ran back up to her room. Seth was now on her bed and it looked like he was sleeping.

"So? Did you call him?" Seth turned on his other side and faced her.

"I did. It wasn't him that picked up. I need you to call. His girl wouldn't expect a thing if it was a guy calling. Say it was an accident that you hung up. When she asks you who it is, you say that it is Seth from this morning. Then you can ask if you could talk to him and then when he gets on the phone, I can ask him."

"If she has his phone, then isn't she with him?"

"Ya, but It's still nice to ask." He put his hand out and grabbed the phone and the paper and called the number.

"Hello? If you are going to hang up again then it's no use calling this number."

"Hi. Um sorry I hung up. It was an accident. My friend bumped me and it hung up. This is Seth from this morning at the diner. If you could give the phone to Nate, it would be greatly appreciated."

"Oh, ok. Ya, hold on a second." He waited until he heard another voice.

"Hello? How did you get my number?"

"Hi, ok so are you someplace where you can talk about somebody freely?"

"No, but hold on." Seth waited and heard some bickering over the phone. "Ok. Now I am. Is she with you?"

"Yes and here she is"

"Hi, Nate. I would like to come and show you some of my moves like you asked earlier. It's fine if you can't right now."

"Hi. Oh that would be great. Come over in about an hour."

"Ok. I just have one favor to ask you. Is it alright if I bring Seth along too? He's my training partner."

"That's fine. As long as it's only him that is coming with you."

"Ok, see you in an hour then."

"Alright bye." They hung up the phone and Vanessa smiled at Seth.

"In one hour, we will be able to go there and you can watch me kick his butt." Seth smiled back but for a different reason. He now had a plan to get them together.

In one hour's time, she had gotten ready for a fight and she drove her truck to Nate's house. Seth wanted to drive his truck but she decided that she was tired of sitting in the passenger's seat. When they arrived, She drove in the drive way and the garage door opened. It was definitely less cramped of cars than it was the night before.

She saw Nate come into the garage. She hoped out of her truck and went over to Seth's side. She helped him out and walked over to Nate. "Hi, so where will this take place?"

"In my living room. I have moved all the furniture except for the couch and TV."He went over and helped Seth. "What happened to you?"

"Oh, I hit my knee on the rock climbing wall and scraped it. It's bad but I can manage."

"So is that why you decided to take me up on my offer? Your partner couldn't fight so you wanted to fight me?"

"Well, sort of. We stopped training because of his knee and in the ideas of what to do, I thought of your offer and so here we are. I hope I didn't cause too much trouble because of this. Was your girl ok with leaving?"

"Who? Cassandra? She yelled at me and stormed out on her own. I took about 30 minutes to get it through her head that I was breaking up with her."

Seth's eyes went wide open. "What!?" Vanessa was also shocked but didn't say anything. "You broke up with her? Why?"

Seth sat down on the couch and stared at Him. "Ya, I couldn't stand her jealousy anymore. For the past few days, she has been even wilder with her jealousy. When I got off the phone she asked me why you had called and I told her that it was no big deal. She got jealous and so that's when I broke up with her."

"Well, if she is how you describe her, then I would have too. I can't stand jealousy." Seth commented.

Nate then turned to Vanessa. "So, are we going to fight or are you just going to show me some tricks and moves?"

"I think that you should only show him some moves, right Vanessa?" He emphasized the last part.

"No, I think that I should fight with you so that you can't underestimate me." She said when she stood with her feet shoulders length apart and her arms crossed. "Come at me and don't hold back."

"Ok." He said with a grin. He got in his stance and charged at Vanessa. She took one step to the side and ducked.

"Don't think that your opponent will automatically fight back." She rolled her eyes and faced him. "And don't try and make a desperate move."

It was many hours in now and it was getting dark out. They were still fighting. Seth had watched them for the most part and he got up. His knee was feeling much better now and he didn't have a limp. Without either Nate or Vanessa noticing, he went into the garage and drove Vanessa's truck home. He had taken her keys out of her bag before he left. Vanessa was impressed on Nate's improvement in the past few hours. She had stopped right in front of him and slammed into the ground. "Don't let your guard down." She looked around after she had him pinned and out of breath under her hand. Seth was gone. "Did you notice when Seth left?"

"No?" He said after he caught his breath he looked around him and didn't see him either. "Maybe he went to the kitchen or to the restroom?"

"No. He's gone." She stood and walked to her bag that was on the couch. She searched and couldn't find her keys. "And he took my truck."

"Oh. Well, he could have gone to get some food." Nate stood and walked over to Vanessa. "It is getting late after all."

"I don't think that he'll come back. He'll probably go to my house, park my truck, get his truck and go home. And after all, you did say that it was getting late." She stood up and took a few steps back. "So do you want to eat or do you want to train more and eat later?"

"Well, I'm not that hungry right now so we can train more." Vanessa smiled. She wasn't hungry either and so even if he said that they were going to eat, she would say that they would train. Nate walked up to her and stood less than a foot away. She didn't move and waited for him to try and attack again. He raised his hand to her face but he hadn't touched her yet. She didn't flinch. When he put his hand down, she watched it with curiosity. With his other hand, he grabbed her arm and through her on the ground. "You had your guard down." He looked down at her confused. She realized what happened and she thought of many probable excuses.

"I thought that you should feel the satisfaction of something but don't think that I will have it last long." When she said that, she swung her leg and made him fall backwards. "Now instead of ignoring what I've told you, you should take to heart what I told you. How do you think that I'm so strong and tactical?" She was truly enjoying showing him a thing or two. Vanessa hoped that he would actually listen to her though. It would be much more fun to beat him if he tried to be a challenge. They fought for another three hours and it wasn't until Nate had quit attacking that they stopped.

"Ok, I think that's enough for the day. I'm getting hungry." He sat down on the couch and grabbed the remote. "What do you want?"

She went and sat at the other end of the couch. She wasn't very hungry but she could eat a decent sized meal. She wasn't often asked what she wanted and least of all what she wanted to eat. Sure, Seth had asked her many times but they always ate what he wanted. "I don't know what do you want?"

"No, what do you want?"

"I told you I don't know."

"What's your favorite food?"

"That's easy. I love bacon cheese burgers with chicken on the side."

"Well, ok. I know where to go then."

"Out? No. I'm not going anywhere to eat. If I'm leaving, then I will go home."

"Hm. How would you get there? Seth already took your truck."

"I'll walk." She was now getting frustrated. She never wanted it to escalate to this. She wanted to kick his butt and leave. She never thought that Seth would leave. She never thought that it would go this late, and she never wanted this situation.

"How far do you live?"

"I live about a mile down the road. I don't mind walking that distance." She stood and went to his kitchen. "What do you have to eat?"

"Not much. My parents haven't been home for weeks and I haven't gotten around to go shopping." He was right He didn't have much. When she looked in the fridge there was a carton of milk and a few slices of cheese. "And plus, I don't normally eat at home anyway."

"Well, I guess that you are taking me home and I am going to make dinner."

"Um, alright." She looked back at him. He looked disappointed.

"For both of us." She rolled her eyes and went to his garage. "What one?" There were multiple cars. She recognized one that she saw multiple time in the school parking lot. There was a nice deep convertible and a navy blue truck.

"The Truck, it has the most gas." They got into the truck and she told him how to get to her house. He parked in front of her house and she unlocked the door. When they got in there, she went straight to the kitchen. Nate, however, stopped in the living room. "Wow. I pass by this house a lot and I have always liked it from the outside but it's even better on the inside."

"So, what would you like for dinner?" Vanessa yelled from the kitchen. "I have a lot of things that I could make." When she heard no response, she closed the refrigerator door and walked into the living room. Nate was now admiring the pictures. Some of them were of her, others were of her and her mother, but most of them were of pictures that she has drawn.

"Is this your mom?"

Vanessa rolled her eyes. "Yes. Now what would you like me to cook for dinner?" She really didn't like the situation she was in. Her life was now being pried open by this human and she didn't like it. Her life was a closed book that was locked in a secret compartment in the middle of nowhere. Only her father and Seth knew its location and had a key. Now his guy had a map and is trying to pick the lock.

"Oh, I don't know. Let me see what you have." She led him to the kitchen and he looked through the fridge. "Let's just reheat this pizza." He pulled out a pizza box. He then took out a few slices of pizza and put them in the microwave. "So." He said awkwardly.

Vanessa only shook her head and went to the living room. She didn't like the living room. The only real room that she liked was her bedroom. What she really didn't want was him to be here anymore then he had to be. She lied down on the couch and closed her eyes. She heard Nate enter the room and opened her eyes. He gave her a plate and it had 2 slice of pizza on it. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. You know, I surprised that you took me up on my offer. I guess I know what you like."

"You have no Idea what I like. You are correct that I enjoy fighting, but that wasn't fighting. I like to train people. I am actually a trainer of trainers. That's how good I am. You are the first person that I have actually trained as a pupil in a while. There are only two others that I have trained as a pupil. Seth is one of them. The other is His younger brother."

"Hm. So you like training and Drawing?"

That struck a sensitive nerve in Vanessa's heart. Drawing was the only thing that connected her to her father on a daily basis. "No."

"What? You just said that you like training and I that it's obvious that you like to draw. Your drawings are everywhere."

"No, I don't like drawing. Now change the subject." She finished her pizza and turned on the TV and handed the remote to Nate.

"Um. Ok. What do you want to watch?"

"I don't watch TV. I find it idiotic and boring. It only makes background noises."

"I've never heard anyone say that before, but I also haven't met anyone like you before."

She stood and went to the kitchen. Nate stood and followed. She didn't like how he was acting. The only reason that she wasn't punching him into a pulp was… "What was it that has me holding back? There would be no trouble getting him out of here. So why am I not beating him to a pulp?" The answer hit her like a ton of rocks. She stopped and stood up straight. "Is what Seth said true?" She turned to look at Nate. He was leaning against the counter. "NO! I refuse to believe it. I don't have feelings for him!" She then took out a glass and poured herself some soda. She went back to the living room but went to the shelves and got out a book.

"Vanessa?"

"What?"

"Never mind." He put his head down and sat back down in the chair that he had sat in before.

"If you want to ask me something, go ahead. What is it?" She turned to him and put the book back to get a different book.

"I was just wondering." He paused for a moment. "This morning, at the dinner, you had said that your dad had drawn the picture. I have yet to see a picture of a father figure. Well, except in your drawings. So my question is." He got cut off by Vanessa.

"NO, He doesn't live here. I don't want to talk about my father." She became angry. She never wanted to come across mean at that instance but she didn't want to talk about her father.

"I'm sorry; I just want to get to know you. You're new and I figured that you might want to have a friend,"

"No, I'm sorry; I have never talked about my father to anyone but Seth and my mother. It's a bit of a touchy subject." She sat down with the book and Started to read it.

"What's that book?"

"The history of the Angels, I've been reading it so that." She stopped and thought about what she was going to say. "So that I can picture angels as an actual thing and not a factual character out of a story book."

"Oh, once you are finished, could I read it? You said that I have trouble doing that. It could help me too."

"No, I can't give this to you. I can't let it leave this house. I'm the only one that can read it."

"Oh, ok then." Vanessa glanced over at the clock. 11:48 P.M. "WHAT? It's that late? How did it become so late? My mother isn't back yet either. Why is he still here?" She thought to herself. "You should get going. It's late."

Nate glanced at the clock. "Oh, wow. I guess we lost track of time." He stood and walked toward the door. "It's been nice. We should do this again, soon." He smiled at Vanessa and left. She shook her head as if she was in a dream. She went up to her room and flopped on her bed face first. She sighed and turned on her back.

"How did I let it go this far? I'm going to get back at Seth for this." Was her last thought before she let sleep fall on her.


	4. Nate's view Day 2

Chapter 4 (Nate's view)

"Hey silly, get up." Nate opened his eyes as he was pushed off of the couch. "Nate, why were you sleeping on the couch?"

"Cassandra, why did you just push me off of my couch? I slept on the couch because you were in my bed. You got drunk at the party last night and so I put you in there to sleep. Why are you so jumpy and full of energy?"

"Well, I took a warm shower and had my coffee so I thought that we could go to the diner and get some breakfast before school."

He stood up from the floor slowly and made his way to the stairs. "Alright just give me 30 minutes and call Scotty so he can come too. Tell him to be ready by then and we will pick him up." He climbed the stairs and went to his room. "Wow, she's been up for a while, my bed is made and everything looks clean. He went and got some clean clothes. He then went into his bathroom and took a shower. It took about 20 minutes and when he got out of the shower; he dried off and put his clothes on. It was now 6:30 and he picked up Scotty and went to the diner. When they got inside, Nate had told the waiter that he wanted his normal seat and his normal breakfast Item, right when he heard his name being called.

"Hey, Nate, look at who I found here." He looked and saw him standing by a table at the front of the diner and saw Vanessa. He was so surprised to see her. She would be the last person that he would expect to see. He walked over to them and totally forgot about Cassandra.

"Um, hey, where are you going?"

"I'll be right back, Seth found Vanessa and he wants me to come over. You don't have to be jealous." He then went over to Scotty.

"Hi." He wanted to say more but then he saw a guy that she was with.

"Hi." Vanessa looked at Seth. "This is my friend Seth."

"Hi, I'm Nate." He watched him smile at Vanessa and then look over at the table that Cassandra was sitting at.

"Hi." He looked and smiled at Vanessa. "Who is that over there?"

"Oh, her? She's Cassandra, my girl." He looked over to Vanessa and smiled. It was then that he thought about the drawing that was hanging in the diner. "Vanessa, we've been meaning to ask you if you were the one who drew that drawing over there."

"No, but I might know who did." She frowned.

"Really? Who was it?" Scotty asked.

"I think that it was my father."

The waiter came over with their food. "Oh, hey Nate, I didn't know that you knew them." This didn't surprise Nate, she didn't talk much and didn't seem to care that he had connections "Oh you didn't mention that you knew me? Hm. Well, I do know them, personally and their check is on me ok?"

"Alright. Miss, here is your breakfast and here is yours sir." He put the plates down. "I will be right with you Nate. I just have a few tables to serve first."

"Oh, no rush."

The waiter left and so did Scotty. "So, Nate, how do you know Vanessa?".

Nate turned to look at Seth. "School, I have first hour with her and she sits behind me. How do you know her?"

"He and I grew up together." When Vanessa said that, he was genuinely surprised. She actually had friends, and she liked being with them?

"Really, I got the impression that she doesn't like people."

"She doesn't, or at least not since she first moved. Do you want to sit down?"

"Oh, no I best be getting back to Cassandra. She gets jealous easily and I don't think that she likes me spending this much time over here." He then looked back at her; she was watching them like a hawk.

"Sounds like she's not that good of a girl then." He was caught off guard and now wanted to end the conversation. He didn't want to talk about her in front of Vanessa.

"Eh. Well, it's been nice meeting you." He turned to Vanessa who was almost done eating. "I'll see you in class."

She gave him a nod and kept eating. He went to his table and sat next to Cassandra. "So what took you so long?"

"Oh, Seth and I got to talking but then I decided that I needed to eat and leave them alone. Scotty wasn't paying any attention and was scarfing his food down.

"Who?"

"The guy that's eating with Vanessa."

"Oh." She started eating and so Nate did too. He watched Vanessa leave and Seth stayed behind for a minute or two. When he finished, Scotty was done with his third plate of food. Cassandra was almost done with her food and so He sat there and stared at the drawing.

"Well, I know where she got her drawing skills." He thought to himself. He saw that Cassandra had finished and paid the bill for both their meal and Vanessa's meal. "Well, we should be going. It's about time that school will start." They both agreed and got there just in time. As they got on campus, they heard the bell to get to class. They split and Cassandra and Nate went into their class. He knew that they usually sat next to each other, except on Mondays, but he wanted to sit in his normal seat. She tried to make a scene but Nate quieted her down. The Bell rang and Mr. Sy started to give his Tuesday speech. He turned around and watched Vanessa draw. He reached into his bag and gave Vanessa one of his drawings. He thought that it was one of his best but it came nowhere close to her drawings. "I drew this and thought that you would like it. It's not as good as yours but I thought that you should have it either way." He tried to read her expression but couldn't.

"It's not really all that bad. You could do a bit more with the wings though. They aren't full enough." She gestured to her drawing. "You see how in my drawing, the wings are full and more life like? You need to picture it as if it were real and not just a fantasy."

He was happy. She thought that it wasn't terrible. She even gave him a few pointers on how to become better. She was talking too. "Maybe she was warming up to him?" He thought to himself. She tried to give the picture back and then drew on her picture some more. Nate looked at her and then back at his drawing. "Did she not want it because it was that bad?" He thought. "No, she said that it wasn't that bad. Coming from her right now, that's not horrible." He then said, "Oh, no you can have it if you want. I don't need it."

She looked back up at him with an intense stare that could make anyone tremble out of their seat. "Keep it, improve on it and then you would have learned from it." She looked at the clock. He did too. He was confused.

"Did she not like being here?" Mr. Sy told the class to work on the weekly packet and Cassandra came over to sit by him.

"Hi, my name is Cassandra. I don't believe that I have formally introduced myself. It was you that was at the diner this morning wasn't it?" Vanessa didn't speak and Nate saw her role her eyes. "Hm, not much for talking hu? Well, that's alright." She backed off and Nate turned around in his seat so that he was now facing the front of the class. They worked on the packet together. It was obvious that she was enraged with jealousy. He ignored it and tried to pretend that he didn't notice. The bell rang and he noticed that Vanessa hurried out of the room. He left with Cassandra and went to his next class.

It was now lunch time and He was walking out of the gate with Scotty when they both noticed that Vanessa was waiting outside of it. They walked towards her. "Hey, where's your truck?"He asked.

"Seth is picking me up today."

Scotty then asked, "The guy that was with you at the diner?"

"Yes, now if you'll excuse me, he is here and I shall be leaving." Nate wanted to talk to her more but she was already getting into the truck. They made eye contact but she broke it when she closed the door. He was saddened but it didn't show. They waited for Cassandra. They all went to his house and Nate and Scotty played videogames. Cassandra sat next to Nate and rested her head on his shoulder. He looked down at her and realized that she hadn't complained about her arm in a while.

"It's gone?" He whispered. Cassandra put her head up and looked at him.

"What?"

"Your arm, it's not cut anymore." She looked down at it. Apparently she had forgotten all about it.

"Oh, ya, I noticed it this morning during school. It had hurt at the diner but it had a sudden stop. I looked at it and it started to heal."

Scotty turned. "Really? Just like that? Do you know what caused it?"

"No, I have my suspicions but you two would think that it's only jealousy talking."

"Who?"

"I think that Vanessa is some sort of witch, I saw her put her arm towards me and act like she was grabbing something. That's when I felt the sudden stop of pain. It can't be a coincidence that at that moment it stopped."

"Vanessa isn't a witch, if she was, all of us would be dead. She hates people and don't you think that we would be dead if she was?"

"Well, maybe, but I still think that it was her." She put her head back down on Nate's shoulder. He did think that it was strange but he didn't think anything of it. He looked at the time; it was time to go back to school. He didn't want to go, he wanted to stay home and sleep. He was tired because he didn't get much sleep. Every time he slept on his couch, he woke up every hour or so and it was hard to go back to sleep. They all got into the car and went back to school. On the way there, they went through the drive through because Scotty was complaining that he was hungry. It was a long and boring 4 hours of school and he almost fell asleep during his last class. After school let out, he was heading to the parking lot when a few guys from the gym that he went to started to talk to him. When they all decided that they would go and train for the upcoming tournament, he no longer felt tired. Vanessa was walking by and so he decided to ask her if she wanted to come and watch.

"Hey, Vanessa, have any plans after school? My friends and I were going to go to the ring. I thought that you might want to join." His friends started complaining that she was a girl and wouldn't like that but he ignored them.

"Sorry, what's the ring?"

"It's the fighting ring. We are going to be fighting in the tournament on Saturday and I thought that if you didn't have any plans then you could come and watch us."

"Sorry, I rather train with actual competition." She then walked away with her head held high. Nate repeated in his head what she said. He ran after her to get some answers.

"Train? Train for what? I didn't know that you fight."

She stopped and turned to him. "I train to get strong. Those friends of yours over there, wouldn't last a minute in the ring with me. The only reason that I won't go is because you guys have safety rules. Where I come from, there aren't any rules except to not kill anyone." She turned and started walking again. He again thought of what she said.

"She fights? She's strong?" he thought to himself. "Hey, you said that you could beat my friends up in less than a minute is that true or are you just saying that? I want to know where you train."

"I was telling the truth about your friends but I will not show you where I train."

"Why, it's not like I would follow her there. I want to know because I would want to train there if she is as strong as she claims to be." He thought. "Could you at least come over some time to my place to show me that it's true? I don't care when, as long as nobody else knows about it. I couldn't have Cassandra know. She would go on an outrage."

"Sorry, have plans." Vanessa gave him a smirk and went through the gates. He almost went and tried to talk her out of it but then he thought of yesterday.

"She had plans then but she still came to the party. It could happen again, right? The chances of that happening are one in a million though." He went back to his friends. "So are we going to go now or what?"

"No, not now, I have to babysit my siblings but let's meet up there in 2 hours." One of them said.

"Alright." Nate left and found Scotty hitting on some girl in the parking lot. "Hey, Scotty, meet me and the boys at the ring in 2 hours. Ok?"

"Ok" Nate went to his car and looked in the mirror. He could get some sleep by then.

"Aren't you forgetting someone?"

"Oh, hi Cassandra, I'm sorry. I'm just tired." Cassandra opened the door and kissed him on the cheek.

"So, I have made plans for tonight. I've called Power up and they have confirmed a reservation in 2 hours for dinner. I have done the liberty of also telling them that you were grateful of the last meal and want it again tonight."

"What!? 2 HOURS!?" He thought. "Honey, I already have plans."

"What? You made plans without me? And I put all this work into tonight and it all goes for nothing. I bet your plans are to cheat on me. Well. Fine if you want it to be that way." He put his hand over her mouth.

"No, I made plans to go to the ring and fight and train for the tournament this Sunday. I'm tired of you overreacting to every little thing that I do that doesn't involve you. I need to train or else I won't be able to win. I'm sorry that you went through that trouble but I already have plans."

She didn't move and only sat there. He became guilty but didn't budge. This was the last time that he would change his plans because of her. He drove to his house and ate a small snack before he went to his room and slept. Cassandra was in his living room watching TV and hadn't spoken to him. She thought that he would budge from guilt but he hadn't said a word either. It was now 4 and Nate walked down his stairs in his training gear and a bag in his hand. He saw Cassandra lying on the couch sleeping and wrote her a note. **"Hey, you were sleeping when I came down and I didn't want to wake you. I'm at the ring and you can come and watch if you want to. I'll be back in an hour or so. I'm still sorry that I couldn't go with you but I'm not changing the plans that I made. –Nate**

He went and took off to the ring. When he got there, he saw his buddies. "Hey Nate, I almost thought that you wouldn't come."

"Why?"

"Well, your girl has you on a leash and we all thought that she wouldn't let you." One of them said.

"Well, she did make plans but I told her that I was going to train will you so here I am. Now are we going to train or what?" They all started to train by lifting or fighting or something of that nature. Nate was in the middle of fighting with Scotty when someone called his name. He was holding a phone to his chest and Nate and Scotty stopped.

"Nate, your girls on the line. She's wondering where you are. She said that you would be there already."

"What time is it?"

"5."

"Well, Scotty, I'm sorry but you know how she is. Let's finish this tomorrow."

"Alright."

Nate turned to the guy with the phone. "Tell her I'll be there in 15. I need to cool down and then I'll be off."

"Ok." He put the phone to his ear and told Cassandra. Nate jumped off of the ring and went to the lockers. He got his stuff and left. He didn't want to but he always kept his word as much as possible. He knew that Cassandra never liked being there without him and so he got there quickly.

"Where have you been? I've been worried sick!"

"I'm sorry, I left you a note." He pointed to it. The note was exactly where he put it. It seemed as though she hadn't touched it.

"Well, I didn't see it. I only called there because that's where you said you would go." She turned from him and sat on the couch. "I'm still mad at you for going there instead of dinner with me." Nate ignored her. He was sick and tired of her jealousy. He had never cheated on her and yet she still chose to act this way. He went up to his room and changed into his clothes. When he came down he heard Cassandra answer his cell phone. ""Hello? Who is this?" She waited for an answer. "Hello?" She then looked at it and put it down.

"Who was that?"

"I don't know. I hope it's not a girl." He rolled his eyes and went to the kitchen. While he was opening a bottle of water he got out of the fridge, he heard Cassandra answer the phone again and so he walked back into the living room. "Hello? If you are going to hang up again then it's no use calling this number." She was quite for a while and then said, "Oh, ok. Ya, hold on a second." She then gave the phone to Nate. "It's that guy Seth from the diner."

"What does he want?"

"To talk to you."

He took the phone. "Hello? How did you get my number?"

"Hi, ok so are you someplace where you can talk about somebody freely?"

"No, but hold on." He then put the phone down. "Hey, I need you to go and make me a snack please."

"What? No! Why?"

"I need to talk to him alone."

"Well then go to your room. I'm not going to make you a snack."

"Fine!" He walked to his room and locked the door and then went to the farthest corner so that she couldn't hear him. "Ok. Now I am. Is she with you?"

"Yes and here she is"

"Hi, Nate. I would like to come and show you some of my moves like you asked earlier. It's fine if you can't right now."

"Hi. Oh that would be great. Come over in about an hour." He was shocked that she called and took him up on his offer. Now all he needed to do was somehow get Cassandra out of his house.

"Ok. I just have one favor to ask you. Is it alright if I bring Seth along too? He's my training partner."

"That's fine. As long as it's only him that is coming with you." He didn't really want anyone to know that they were doing this butt if anyone had to know, Seth would be the person he would want more than anyone else.

"Ok, see you in an hour then."

"Alright bye." He hung up and went to the door. "How am I going to get her out of here?" He unlocked and opened the door. As he suspected, she was right there waiting for him.

"And what was that all about?" She stood in his way so he couldn't go around her.

"How should I say this?" He stood there thinking. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"Ask me to leave? Why? Is another girl coming over? Your cheating on me aren't you?"

"NO! I'm not and I sick and Tired of your jealousy! I can't stand it anymore. You are trying to control my live and I've had it."

"So what are you trying to say?"

"I'm saying that I'm tired of you trying to control my life. I'm breaking up with you!"

She was silent and just standing there in shock. "You don't really mean that do you?"

He realized what he said and didn't mean it when he said it but now that he thought about it, it sounded nice. "Yes. I'm breaking up with you. Now you don't have to worry about me cheating on you because we aren't together."

Again she only stood there. "I don't believe you. We've been together for too long for you to just suddenly break up with me."

"Well, I am. You have been a whole lot more jealous lately and I can't stand you being in control of MY LIFE. You are now free of worry and you don't have to worry about me. I'll be just fine. I'm being completely serious. We are no longer together and get it through your thick skull."

She ran down the stairs crying with her hands over her face. She went into the living room and sat on the couch. "I thought that you loved me. I thought that we would last forever. I thought that we would grow old together." She whimpered. As Nate watched, he thought that she was being pathetic.

"Why must she always be a drama queen? That's another thing that I won't miss from her." He went over to the door. "Now as I said before, I am asking you to leave. You are now free of me. You don't have to be here anymore."

She looked up at him. "Free, why do you keep on saying free? Are you saying that because you think that I am free of you or that you are free of me?"

He thought for a minute. "You know, now that I think about it, it is me that's free of you. I'm free of you and your controlling. I'm free of your drama. I'm free of your over obsessive Jealousy. So I am free of you."

"STOP SAYING THAT!" She yelled. He almost broke an eardrum from her yelling.

"Why not? It's true. I'm over you and we are no longer together. Get it through your head. We're through."

She ran out crying. He closed the door happy with himself. He had never stood up to her like this and he liked it. The words: "I'm free" kept ringing through his head. He looked at the clock. It was 30 minutes ago that he had talked on the phone with Vanessa and he still needed to get ready.

He had taken a shower and got on some training clothes. It was now time for Vanessa to arrive and he had cleared the living room of all but the couch and TV. He heard her pull up and walked into the garage. She got out of the driver's side and went over to the passenger's side. He walked toward her and realized what she was doing. She had helped Seth get out of the truck. "Hi, so where will this take place?" She walked over to him.

"In my living room. I have mover all the furniture except for the couch and TV." He went over and helped Seth. "What happened to you?"

"Oh, I hit my knee on the rock climbing wall and scraped it. It's bad but I can manage."

"So is that why you decided to take me up on my offer? Your partner couldn't fight so you wanted to fight me?"

"Well, sort of. We stopped training because of his knee and in the ideas of what to do, I thought of your offer and so here we are. I hope I didn't cause too much trouble because of this. Was your girl ok with leaving?"

"Who? Cassandra? She yelled at me and stormed out on her own. I took about 30 minutes to get it through her head that I was breaking up with her."

Seth's eyes went wide open. "What!?" Nate looked at him and then at Vanessa who looked just as shocked as Seth was. They walked in the house. "You broke up with her? Why?"

Seth sat down on the couch and stared at Him. "Yeah, I can't stand her jealousy. For the past few days, she has been even wilder with her jealousy. When I got off the phone she asked me why you had called and I told her that it was no big deal. She got jealous and so that's when I broke up with her."

"Well, if she is how you describe her, then I would have too. I can't stand jealousy." Seth commented.

Nate then turned to Vanessa. "So, are we going to fight or are you just going to show me some tricks and moves?"

"I think that you should only show him some moves, right Vanessa?" He emphasized the last part.

"No, I think that I should fight with you so that you can't underestimate me." She said when she stood with her feet shoulders length apart and her arms crossed. "Come at me and don't hold back."

"Ok." He said with a grin. He got in his stance and charged at Vanessa. She took one step to the side and ducked.

"Don't think that your opponent will automatically fight back." She rolled her eyes and faced him. "And don't try and make a desperate move."

He felt foolish. "Of course she would move away." He thought to himself. "Maybe she's not going to fight me but only give me hints on how to get better. She better fight and show me some of her moves." He went to go hit her but she only blocked it and hit him back in the gut. They had fought for hours now and it was getting dark. Seth had watched them for the most part and he got up. His knee was feeling much better now and he didn't have a limp. Without either Nate or Vanessa noticing, he went into the garage and drove Vanessa's truck home. He had taken her keys out of her bag before he left. Nate was getting beat up and she was barely even trying. He was too much on the offensive and he was losing. Every time he had attacked her, she either dodged it or blocked it and attacked. Afterwards she would tell him what he did wrong. He tried to attack her but she had stopped right in front of him and slammed into the ground. "Don't let your guard down." She looked around after she had him pinned and out of breath under her hand.

"Did you notice when Seth left?"

"No?" He said after he caught his breath he looked around him and didn't see him either. "Maybe he went to the kitchen or to the restroom?"

"No. He's gone." She stood and walked to her bag that was on the couch. "And he took my truck."

"Oh. Well, he could have gone to get some food." Nate stood and walked over to Vanessa. "It is getting late after all." He wouldn't think that Seth was the type of guy that would do this.

"I don't think that he'll come back. He'll probably go to my house, park my truck, get his truck and go home. And after all, you did say that it was getting late." She stood up and took a few steps back. "So do you want to eat or do you want to train more and eat later?"

"Well, I'm not that hungry right now so we can train more." He didn't want to stop so soon. He enjoyed her company and even if she was beating him up, he still liked her here. He saw her smile. The first genuine smile that wasn't a smirk or anything. "Maybe she was warming up to me. She did after all ask to come over and do this. I wouldn't think in a million years that that was a possibility." He then evaluated his situation. "What if she also had feelings? There's only one way to find out." Nate walked up to her and stood less than a foot away. She didn't move and waited for him to try and attack again. He raised his hand to her face but he hadn't touched her yet. She didn't flinch. When he put her hand down, she watched it. With his other hand, he grabbed her arm and through her on the ground. "You had your guard down." He looked down at her confused. "Does that prove that she had feelings? She didn't move or even flinch when I put my hand near her face. Maybe she only had her guard down because I had switched my tactics?"

"I thought that you should feel the satisfaction of something but don't think that I will have it last long." When she said that, she swung her leg and made him fall backwards. "Now instead of ignoring what I've told you, you should take to heart what I told you. How do you think that I'm so strong and tactical?" Nate thought about it but she had now gone on the offensive. He tried to do what she did but it was harder than he thought. They fought for another three hours and it wasn't until Nate had quit attacking that they stopped. He only stopped because he was getting hungry.

"Ok, I think that's enough for the day. I'm getting hungry." He sat down on the couch and grabbed the remote. "What do you want?"

She went and sat at the other end of the couch. "I don't know what do you want?"

He didn't expect that. He was hungry but wanted her to have the choice. He was also very bad at making decisions on where to eat. "No, what do you want?"

"I told you I don't know."

"What's your favorite food?"

"That's easy. I love bacon cheese burgers with chicken on the side."

"Well, ok. I know where to go then."

"Out? No. I'm not going anywhere to eat. If I'm leaving, then I will go home."

"Hm. How would you get there? Seth already took your truck."

"I'll walk." He was shocked.

"Walk? How far did she live? I can't just let her walk home, even if she can defend herself." He thought. "How far do you live?"

"I live about a mile down the road. I don't mind walking that distance." She stood and went to his kitchen. "What do you have to eat?"

"Not much. My parents haven't been home for weeks and I haven't gotten around to go shopping." He knew that there wasn't much. He had always eaten out. He had the money and he had connections. "And plus, I don't normally eat at home anyway."

"Well, I guess that you are taking me home and I am going to make dinner."

"Um, alright." She looked back at him. He was disappointed. He didn't want to eat alone and he didn't want her to leave so early.

"For both of us." She rolled her eyes and went to his garage. He was excited now. He would take her to her house and they would have dinner and he would get to know her better. "What one?" There were multiple cars, three to be exact, one that he took to school, one that he took to show off, and his truck. He had lots of pride in it. He had gotten it all beaten up and he had fixed up new.

"The Truck, it has the most gas." They got into the truck and she told him how to get to her house. He parked in front of her house and she unlocked the door. When they got in there, she went straight to the kitchen. Nate, however, stopped in the living room. "Wow. I pass by this house a lot and I have always liked it from the outside but it's even better on the inside."

"So, what would you like for dinner?" Vanessa yelled from the kitchen. "I have a lot of things that I could make." He didn't answer. He was looking at the pictures on the shelf. There were ones of Vanessa, some with another female that looked a lot like she did. He decided that she was her mother because she looked older than Vanessa. There were also a lot of Vanessa's drawings. They were all of Angels. Some were better than others but the one that he liked most was one that had an Angel that looked like Vanessa standing next to an older man. He looked old enough to be her father so that's who she thought he was. He looked around but saw no real pictures of him. It was strange.

"Maybe she didn't live with him?" he saw Vanessa enter the room. "Is this your mom?"

Vanessa rolled her eyes. "Yes. Now what would you like me to cook for dinner?"

"Oh, I don't know. Let me see what you have." She led him to the kitchen and he looked through the fridge. "Let's just reheat this pizza." He pulled out a pizza box. He then took out a few slices of pizza and put them in the microwave. "So." He said awkwardly.

Vanessa only shook her head and went to the living room. He finished heating the pizza up and walked in the living room. Vanessa was lying on the couch with her eyes closed. She opened her eyes and Nate gave her a plate of pizza. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. You know, I surprised that you took me up on my offer. I guess I know what you like." He had thought about it when he was in her kitchen. She liked to fight.

"You have no Idea what I like. You are correct that I enjoy fighting, but that wasn't fighting. I like to train people. I am actually a trainer of trainers. That's how good I am. You are the first person that I have actually trained as a pupil in a while. There are only two others that I have trained as a pupil. Seth is one of them. The other is his younger brother."

"Hm. So you like training and Drawing?" Drawing was obvious to him. She had her drawings everywhere and she drew all the time in class.

"No."

"What? You just said that you like training and I that it's obvious that you like to draw. Your drawings are everywhere."

"No, I don't like drawing. Now change the subject" She finished her pizza and turned on the TV and handed the remote to Nate.

"Um. Ok. What do you want to watch?" It confused him. Of course she liked it. "She has to like it or else she wouldn't do it right?"

"I don't watch TV. I find it idiotic and boring. It only makes background noises."

"I've never heard anyone say that before, but I also haven't met anyone like you before."

She stood and went to the kitchen. Nate stood and followed. He didn't know why but it felt right. He wanted to know more about her. She then took out a glass and poured herself some soda. She went back to the living room but went to the shelves and got out a book.

The thought struck his mind of asking family questions. "It would be the ice breaker." "Vanessa?"

"What?"

He thought for a minute. He decided that it wasn't good enough to break the ice. It was too forward. "Never mind." He put his head down and sat back down in the chair that he had sat in before.

"If you want to ask me something, go ahead. What is it?" She turned to him and put the book back to get a different book.

He thought about changing the question but no other question had come to mind. "I was just wondering." He paused for a moment. "This morning, at the dinner, you had said that your dad had drawn the picture. I have yet to see a picture of a father figure. Well, except in your drawings. So my question is." He got cut off by Vanessa.

"NO, He doesn't live here. I don't want to talk about my father." He noticed that she immediately went on the defensive about it. She plainly said that she didn't want to talk about it.

"I'm sorry; I just want to get to know you. You're new and I figured that you might want to have a friend,"

"No, I'm sorry; I have never talked about my father to anyone but Seth and my mother. It's a bit of a touchy subject." She sat down with the book and Started to read it.

"What's that book?"

"The history of the Angels, I've been reading it so that." She stopped and thought. "So that I can picture angels as an actual thing and not a factual character out of a story book."

"Oh, once you are finished, could I read it? You said that I have trouble doing that. It could help me too."

"No, I can't give this to you. I can't let it leave this house. I'm the only one that can read it."

"Oh, ok then." He didn't understand why but he accepted it and moved on. He noticed that she glanced at something but he didn't see where.

"You should get going. It's late."

Nate glanced at the clock. It was 11:48 P.M. "Oh, wow. I guess we lost track of time." He stood and walked toward the door. "It's been nice. We should do this again, soon." He smiled at Vanessa and left. He was happy about himself. He knew more about her than anyone else did in the entire school. He knew what she liked and the touchy subjects. He was confused why Drawing was a touchy subject but took it as it is. Family was also a touchy subject. He thought about the experience that morning at the diner. She had said that it was her father that drew it. "Maybe that's why. Her father doesn't live with her; he is as good as a drawer as he is. Maybe that's where the connection is." He got in his truck and drove home. When he got home, he saw a note on the door.

**"****Hey, you weren't home. I'm sorry for what I put you through but I still want to be together. I'll change for the better. You'll see. I'm not going to give up. We were meant to be together." –Cassandra**

He shook his head. "No, we aren't getting back together. I'm not foolish enough to believe that you will change." He thought to himself. He didn't want today to end. That would only mean that he would have to face her tomorrow at school. He unlocked the door and went inside. He went up to his room and sat at his desk drawing Angel wings. He tried to remember the pictures that Vanessa drew but he couldn't. The only one that stuck in his head was the one that had Vanessa and what seemed like her father. It was almost 1 in the morning before he felt tired and went to bed. He decided that the next day would be inevitable no matter how hard he tried. When sleep finally took his body, he had dreamed a crazy dream. **He was sitting in an empty room that had a door in front of him. A guy came through it and sat in the chair that was across from it. He tried to remember where he had seen him before but couldn't. "Who are you?"**

**"****Hello Nate, It's nice to finally meet you. I am Vanessa's father, Conner. I know what you're thinking, 'how could I be talking to a person that I've never met?' Well, I have come here to tell you that you were right in dumping Cassandra. She will never change and you have figured out that yourself. Vanessa, she's a tough one though. The only ones that have ever gotten used to her, are my wife and Seth. She has never been the same since I left. To get her talking about me is hard. It's like taking your finger and poking a new bruise that you can't see but it hurts a whole lot. To get her to talk, you need her to talk about her mother. Her mother's name is Veronica. To start the conversation though, you need to get her fighting. She gets very mad when she talks about her mother and she'll only start talking if she can punch something or someone. Trust me though, once she starts to talk, you can't say anything unless she starts asking you questions. I'll visit your dreams often over the next few days but don't tell Vanessa. If you do, she'll go defensive and will close herself off to you." He stood and walked to the door, before he left, he turned around. "She does care for you but don't make it obvious that you know. She's in denial about it." He then left** and Nate sat up on his bed. He was now once again in his room awake. It was only 3 am and he was confused on what just happened. He remembered everything in that dream and that didn't happen a lot. He lied down and went back to sleep.


	5. Vanessa's view Day 3

Chapter 5 (Vanessa's view)

Vanessa had a good sleep. She knew that her father didn't visit her because she couldn't remember her dream. She looked at the clock. It was 4:30 A.M. she fell back down on her bed. "Why do I always get up so early? Why can't I over sleep and not worry about going to that awful place?" Then she thought about what happened last night. "Why did I let him over? I could have just said that I wanted to go home and eat alone. I don't need him. I'm not weak. Seth." She again sat up on her bed. "I am going to get him!" She stood up and went to her balcony. It was almost sunrise and she loved watching it rise. When she sat down on the chair on her balcony, she heard Seth climb up a rope. "What are you doing here?"

He jumped over the railing and sat on the other seat. "I figured that you might already be up and so I decided to come here." He smiled at her.

"What?" She was still annoyed that he had left her and had taken her truck.

"So how did you sleep?"

"I actually slept nice. No thanks to you."

"Now don't say that. You had fun. I know you did."

"No, I didn't. I didn't get him out of here till 11:48 last night. He kept asking me questions about things and I don't like talking. I had to spend all that time in the living room and I hated it. Why did you leave? Why didn't you tell me that you were leaving? When exactly did you leave?"

"I left about 8 or so. It wasn't all that hard. I can't believe that you didn't notice the sound of your truck leaving though. I do guess that you were concentrated on him that much last night." There was silence. "Wait, how long was he here?"

"I don't know we probably got here around 11 or so. He heated up the box of pizza and we ate it. He had asked me questions about my mother. He tried to figure me out. He plainly said that I had liked fighting and drawing. How could he do that? He has no right to make assumptions of my life. He then asked about my father. I stopped him right there."

"So what about his girl?"

"What about her? He didn't talk about her and she didn't come by anytime that we were at his house."

"So he said nothing about it when you guys talked?"

"No, and frankly I don't care." She stood and went to her room. It was now time for her to be getting up and ready. Seth didn't bother following her and left off of her balcony.

She put on black jeans, boots, and a navy blue shirt that had white wings on the back. She grabbed her bag and went down to the kitchen. It was odd that her mother wasn't down there cooking something. When she went to the fridge, she found a note. **"Vanessa, I got here early this morning and left again. Don't bother worrying, I'm alright. I won't be home for a few days and I need you to keep up the school thing. I'll be back as soon as I can." –Veronica**

"Strange. She has never done anything like this." Seth had opened the door and was in the living room.

"Hey, Veronica, What you cooking?"

"I'm Vanessa you idiot. Veronica's not here and I'm not cooking anything." She looked at him with a look that could kill.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't even look to see that she was in here. I just assumed because I heard someone in here that it was her." He looked around and then at the stairs. "Where is she?"

"I don't know. She left this note." She handed the note to him but realized there was writing on the back. "What's that?" She took the note back and read it out load. **"Seth, There is your breakfast in the fridge. You're welcome. Vanessa, I trust that you will make the right decision. –Veronica" **She looked up at Seth and gave the note back to him"Decision? What decision?"

"Maybe she knows about Nate." He smiled.

"NO. I'm not going to get into this with you. Now let's go." She stormed past him and out the door. He got his food out of the fridge and left too. It didn't take long for them to get to the school and when she stepped out of the truck, she saw a huddle of girls. She ignored them and didn't realize that they were surrounding Nate. When she got into class, Cassandra was already sitting in her seat pouting. She sat down and Nate came in with a circle of girls around him. "Hm. Now I know why she was jealous. When he's single, all of the girls were after him. Some girls that were brave enough to get past Cassandra even flirted with him when they were together. Now it was like he was a walking boy band. The bell rang and they were all seated. The girls gazed up at him during class. Vanessa noticed that Cassandra even glanced at him a few times. She ignored most of it but when Mr. Sy looked up at his class and noticed that none of the girls were paying attention, he stood there a minute and one of the boys raised his hand.

"Mr. Sy, Nate and Cassandra broke up last night." Mr. Sy looked up a Nate.

"Is this true?" All of the girls simultaneously said yes with a sigh. Vanessa looked up and noticed that Cassandra was even more in a pout than before. "Well, I guess I should just leave you guys to the packet. You can only work with the people beside you though. No getting out of your seat." All of the girls put their heads down. Nate was surrounded by guys and so none of them could even talk to him. Vanessa went back to the new drawing that she was making. It was only wings right now. There wasn't even an outline to the body. Nate turned around to the only girl that sat next to him and watched her draw.

"So, I guess you are the big ladies man here." She said mockingly.

"Yeah, I'm a catch. But I think that I'm going to stay single for a while, having all of these girls fawn over me feels well. It boosts my self confidence."

"It boosts your giant ego is what it does." She hadn't looked up at him and knew that he was smiling. She knew without looking up that all the girls were either staring her down or gazing at Nate.

"Hey so I was thinking, Could we fight again? I thought that it was fun last night and I would like to do it again."

She never thought that he would ask her that. It rang through her mind that she should but she shot that thought down. "Do you want to fight or do you want to train?" She still didn't look up at him.

He was silent for a while. "I want to train."

"Ok. Come to my place after school and I'll take you to a place where I train my pupils." She said on instinct. She hadn't thought about what she said until it went to Nate's ears. "SHOOT! Did I just say that? No! It couldn't have it was only a thought right. Dang it! I couldn't have said THAT. Where would I take him? I couldn't take him to the training grounds. Yes! That's where. I could take him to the tower. I might need to knock him out first but oh well."

"Oh really? Ok then. I'll make a stop at my place first but alright. You can expect me about 3." He gave her another picture. "Here, am I getting any better at wings?"

She looked at the picture. It was pretty good. She wouldn't have drawn them that way but it was unique. It was just a pair of wings on the back of a person. They weren't very complicated but she thought it amusing that he tried. She looked up at him. She looked at the girls staring. "It's getting better but you haven't taken my advice yet. They still look like they are animated. It's better but not there. She put her head back down and then drew the outline of a person. The bell rang and when she was putting her stuff away, girls came to Nate's desk. "Pathetic little humans." She thought as she left. Her day went by slower than normal. On her way to her third hour she wasn't paying attention and Cassandra stopped her. "What?"

"Did you cause this? Are you the one that caused him to break up with me?" She whispered. It didn't frighten Vanessa but it would have scared the pants off of anyone else. She was so calm about it, that it was creepy.

"No. I think that he finally came to his senses and saw that you are a stupid insecure person that hides behind it by being in control. You are only accusing me because you think that he likes me. Don't fool yourself. I wouldn't like him even if he was the last person on earth. I don't like him and I don't like you more so take your snooty little psychotic butt away from me. I am not afraid of you and I could pound you into a little bug if I wanted to. Don't try me." She started walking with a smirk on her face knowing that she had told her off. She had wanted to do it ever since they met and now she did it. Cassandra stood there and looked back at Vanessa. She couldn't believe what she had just said.

"Well, At least I'm not a witch."

Vanessa stopped. "And where would you get a silly thing like that?"

"Because, you are the one that made the cut on my arm. You are the one that stopped it." Vanessa stood with her arms crossed. "The only reasonable explanation is that you are a witch."

"Ha, please. I don't see a cut on your arm. So what cut? I did no such thing and I am appalled that you say I'm a Witch." Vanessa turned and went to her next class. She didn't like Cassandra and was offended that she called her a witch. "Out of everything she could have called me, why a witch? They are mean and cruel. I might be anti-social but I'm not a witch. How did she know that I was the one that did that to her. Was it a jealous thing or did she think that she had actual evidence?" She shook it off for now. The next hour felt like the longest of the morning. All she did was want to leave and go to lunch. Apparently that's what all of the students wanted in that class. The teacher didn't really teach anything and nobody did anything in there. When the class got out, she walked past Cassandra with her head held high. She made eye contact and stared at her with an even deadlier death stare than Cassandra was giving her. She went to the parking lot and didn't see Nate's car anywhere. "He must have already left. Wait why am I looking for him anyway? I don't care about him." She saw Seth pull into the parking lot and so she waited. She heard her name being whispered and she turned to see who was talking. Nate was hiding and that was when she saw a group of girls wondering and looking lost. She turned and walked towards him. "What? Are you hiding from your little fan base?"

"Just get me out of here. I ditched them and I need to not be seen. Please?"

"Why don't you just get back with Cassandra or even better choose a random groupie and date her?"

"Vanessa, please I need to get out of here unnoticed." Vanessa rolled her eyes and saw Seth pull up.

"Hold on. I have a plan but don't think that I'm helping you because of you, I just don't want those girls around." She walked over to Seth's truck. "Give me your jacket and where's that hat that you always keep in here?"

"It's right there but why do you need it?"

"Don't think much of it ok. It's a long story. Just do it."

"Fine, fine ok, I'll do it." He took off his jacket and gave it to her. She went over to where Nate was hiding and gave him the hat and jacket.

"Thanks, I owe you one." He put them on and followed Vanessa to the truck. They both got in and Seth looked confused. Nate took off the hat and jacket and gave the things back to Seth. "Thanks Seth. I also owe you one."

"Hey Nate. Why did we do this?" Seth started to drive to Vanessa's house.

"I told you, it's a long story."

"Well, when all of the girls found out that I'm now single, they decided to follow me everywhere. I needed to get off campus without them knowing." Vanessa remembered what he said this morning. "Yeah, I'm a catch. But I think that I'm going to stay single for a while, having all of these girls fawn over me feels well. It boosts my self confidence."

"So have you had enough ego for today? Or how did you phrase it? Oh, yeah self boosting?"

"Oh, ha. Ha. Very funny." When they got to her house, she went to her room and left Seth to deal with Nate. When she entered her room she looked down the hall to make sure that they weren't following her. They weren't and she was happy about that. She went to her bed and went to sleep.

She woke up in Seth's truck. She didn't open her eyes because she could feel the movement of the truck. "So when does she usually wake up?"

She could tell that it was Nate asking the question and that they were talking about her. "Well, I find her awake around 4 or 4:30. That's when I get to her house anyway. I don't know when she falls asleep but she has been taking naps during lunch every day now." She didn't like that they were talking about her when she was sleeping but I guess if they had to talk about her, her sleep patterns would do.

"So you go to her house every morning?"

"Ever since she had a breakdown during out training. I offered to take her to and from school so she wouldn't have to deal with all of the people drooling over her truck or anyone else for that matter. She's not really a people person but I'm pretty she's warming up to you."

"Really? She is?"

"I think so, she hasn't beaten you to a pulp and she helped you today. I haven't seen her like this in years. I think that she even has some feelings for you."

"Feelings? For me?"

"Don't tell her that I mentioned it. She'll kill me. She doesn't even want to admit it to herself." He shut up immediately when she started to move like she was just now waking up. She didn't want that conversation to keep going. "Hey, Vanessa. How was your sleep?"

She made a little grown as she tried to stretch. She was lying down on the back seat and Nate and Seth were in the front talking. She yawned and then closed her eyes again. "Why didn't you guys wake me earlier?"

"Well, we didn't want to disturb you and so I carried you down carefully and put you in the back carefully." Seth looked in the rearview mirror. She was trying to sit up.

"Well, it would have been nice." She yawned again and rubbed her eyes. She looked at Seth and then at Nate. Something was up but it wasn't what they were just discussing before she woke up. Something had happened that they were both hiding. She tried to read Seth's face but she couldn't make anything out. She looked at Nate and she could tell that he was hiding something but she couldn't see what. "So, what time is it?"

"We are almost at the school. It's 11:15."

She put her head back. Her head hurt like she had hit it against something badly. She felt the back of her head. It hurt but there was no bump of cut or anything. "Well, it couldn't have been that bad if it's healing this quickly." She thought to herself. They had stopped at the light across from the school. "Seth, can't we just turn back. I don't have to go."

"Yes, but you told your mother that you would. It's only Wednesday."

"Fine."

"Why don't you want to go to school?" Nate turned around so that he could see her.

"People. People like Scotty, People like Cassandra, and People like you." She almost regretted saying the last part but now, she didn't care. They needed to know that she didn't care for him.

Nate didn't seem offended at all to her surprise. When they got to the parking lot, there weren't any people there. Apparently they had all wondered to find Nate. Nobody had seen him leave and that would mean that he was hiding on campus. Nate and Vanessa got out of the truck and Vanessa had walked fast away from him. She got on campus and saw everyone. When she had gotten in the halls, she heard some girl say that she had found him. She couldn't care less about it though. She had made her way to her next hour without any interruption. She sat through her class and on her way to her next hour she ran into Scotty. "Hey Vanessa. I haven't seen you in a while. How are you?"

"I'm fine. What do you want?" She didn't stop or anything and Scotty was walking next to her.

"Nothing, just see how you were doing."

"And as I told you, I'm fine, but you are still walking with me why?" Scotty noticed Nate in front of them.

"Hey, Nate. How are you?"

"Good." He glanced at Vanessa. She was annoyed and didn't hide it. "Say, Scotty, You can have a choice of any of these girls."

"Really? Hm."

Vanessa looked at him confused. He rolled his eyes and gestured to her to keep walking. She did and Scotty wasn't following her. She hated these people. She wasn't their friend but they still acted like it. She closed them off and they tried and tried again to get her to open up. She didn't like it. In her last class of the day she started to think of sleep. Even though she had slept well that night, and had a nap during lunch, she was tired. When the bell rang for school to be out, she went to the parking lot with one thing in mind. Sleep. She had no care in the world but sleep. She went out the gate and saw that Seth wasn't there yet. "Great, that's just my luck today. He's not on time." She stood against the red brick wall of the building that faced the parking lot. It was a few minutes before she saw his truck. He pulled up to where she was and she got in without hesitation. When they were almost to her house, she noticed that Seth wasn't the only other person in the car. Nate was with them. She pretended that she didn't notice and when they had gotten in the garage, she got out as quickly as she could without looking like she was running away. She went up to her room and fell on her bed. She had fallen asleep.

The next time she awoke, it was only an hour since she went to bed and she heard a knock on her door. "WHAT?"

"Vanessa, it's late, you need to eat. I know that you haven't eaten all day." Seth was the one on the other side if the door. "Come on Vanessa."

She got up and opened the door. He was standing looking concerned. She had never just come home and went to bed and not eating anything was also unlike her. She fell forward and he caught her. "I don't care, I'm tired. I'm going to sleep."

"Didn't you tell Nate that you would train him?"

"Uug. Fine."

"You need to eat first. You have absolutely no energy." He picked her up and carried her to the kitchen. He put her on a chair at her kitchen counter. She put her head down and waited for the food to appear in front of her. "So, Nate, How's Cassandra taking the break up? I haven't talked about her yet."

"Well, she came to my house this morning and begged me to get back together. I said no and she cried. She hasn't said a word to me since. I guess it's better that way."

"Lucky you." Vanessa croaked.

"What?"

"You lucky thing. I got stopped by her. Please explain why she thinks that I'm the reason for you two breaking up. I could have broken her without any sweat. Instead I only hurt her with the truth. I hope that she'll leave me alone now." She looked up at him.

"I honestly don't know. When we were together, she was most jealous of you. I don't know why she saw you as the biggest threat."

Seth chuckled a little. "What do you think is so funny?" Vanessa wasn't the best to deal with when she was just waking up. Seth didn't find it intimidating though. He'd known her for so long that it had little to no impact on him.

"Nothing. I just find this situation funny. Here's your food. Eat."

She looked at the plate in front of her. It had French toast and bacon on it. She took the syrup and poured it all over her food. She took the fork and started to eat. She ate it slowly and then got up out of her seat. She turned to Nate. "So, I'm not happy at the situation that I have been put in. I don't like you at my house and so if you want to train, you will train at my level." She then looked at Seth. "And you will train even harder. We will go to the mountain." She walked to the living room. "Let me get ready and we will leave." She didn't want to do this but she knew that she had to.

She got her training gear in her bag and changed her jeans into basketball shorts. She got some extra gear and put it into another bag and left her room. Both Seth and Nate were sitting on the couch and talking. Nothing really important, Vanessa decided. "Why are you weaklings just sitting around? Let's go." She went into the garage and through the stuff into the back of her truck and tied them down.

"Vanessa, Could I drive? I know how tired you are, on our way, you could sleep a little more." She knew that he was right but she still wanted to drive.

"Fine, but I'm going to increase your warm up." She climbed into the back and lied down on the seat. In minutes with in the departure, she was fast asleep. When she woke up, they were on the mountain and Seth was getting his gear and all of her gear and Nate helped bring it in. They hadn't bothered to wake her up. She got angrier and stormed into the building. "So, Seth set up the rock walls, the ring, and the simulator. Nate, you will help me get some things out of the supply closet." She went into the closet and looked around. "Yes, this will be fun. I can pummel both of them in a nice _fun_ game." She thought to herself. "Hey, Nate. Get the dodge balls off the shelf and bring the bag to the simulator."

"Alright. Where exactly is the simulator?"

"Go out to the ring, turn to the opposite side that you came in, that's the door that goes to the simulator room. If the light is green you can enter safely." She turned and grabbed some rope. Nate left and she did too. After she saw that everything was set up, she heard someone come in the room. Nate was in the simulator room and Seth was hooking up his harness. It was Eric, Seth's little brother. "Um, what are you doing here?"

"Hi Vanessa." He ran up to her and gave her a hug. She didn't like when he did this but he always did. "I saw your truck and I thought that you might be training."

"Eric!" Seth ran over to them. "Why are you here?"

"He wants to train with us." She looked back at Eric. "What's so wrong with that?"

"I'll tell you what, Eric has wings! Have you totally for gotten that Nate is here?"

"Dang it! Why did I let it come to this? I shouldn't have invited him to train in the first place." She thought. "Well, ok. Sorry Eric, My mother isn't at my house so you can't go there and get a necklace. Hm. Well, it looks like you can't train with us today. But tomorrow, We three can train. Seriously, not like Monday."

"I could just go to your mother and get one of those necklaces though."

"But she's not at the house."

"No, but I know where she is." He then covered his mouth.

"Spill it! Where is she? She hasn't told me anything about where she has gone!"

"I'm sorry; she told me that I can't tell you. She did say that if you found out that I knew that I should tell you that she'll tell you when she gets back in a few days." He put his head down. "Hey, Someone else is here isn't there?"

"How did you know?"

"Remember, I can feel people's powers. I can feel yours, Seth's, mine, and someone else's. "It's not very strong though." He looked behind Vanessa. "He's in there. Not an Angel?"

"No, and that's why you can't be here." She made him turn around and pushed him a little. "Sorry but I'll make up for it tomorrow." She smiled as he flew off. Oh how she wished that she could let her wings out. Flying is something that she hadn't done for fun since before the last move. She turned to Seth and almost fell on him. "Why did I do this?"

He stood her up and put his hands on her shoulders. "Because you have feelings for this guy. You need to stop denying it."

"I'm sorry. I don't know what you're talking about. I feel nothing. All I want to do is pound in both of your faces. Yours, because you keep insisting it, and him because he keeps being around me." She stood and looked back at the simulator. He was opening the door and seemed like he hadn't heard or seen anything. He had a smile on his face and Vanessa hated it. "How could he be so happy right now?"

"That's a cool room. So what's first?"

"Well, first I want to see how fast you are at rock climbing." She walked over to the first and easiest wall. She set the timer and the button started blinking green. Seth hooked Nate up and explained how to go through the rock wall course. Seth looked back and nodded at Vanessa. "5…4…3…2…1…" She started the clock and Nate started to climb the rock walls. Compared to Seth and Vanessa he was at a snail's pace but then Vanessa thought, "If he's stronger than most of the people in the school, this is shameful." When he got to the last wall, it had been 20 minutes and Seth and Vanessa were in the ring fighting. She saw that he was struggling and so she stopped and stood. When Seth had tried to attack her from behind, she ducked down and pinned him on the ground. She didn't take her eyes off of Nate while she was doing it. Seth had looked at her with his head tilt to the side and then he looked behind his as best as he could, for Vanessa holding him down on his back with only one of her hands. He smiled and then looked back at Vanessa.

"Ok, you win. You should go help him." Vanessa stood and he slowly got up too. He put his hand on her back and gave her a little push. "Go, you two still need to fight." She took a step forward and then glared at Seth. She knew exactly what he was trying to do. She had suspicions of it last night but they were just now confirmed. She looked back at Nate. He was almost to the top and so she started climbing. She got to the top right about the time that he did.

"You did good, for a beginner." He smiled.

"Thanks." His eyes widened and looked her over. "You aren't wearing a harness. How did you get up so fast?"

"Well, what you just did, that's my warm up."

"You have got to be kidding." She nodded and her foot slipped out of place. Nate grabbed her before she could fall. "Do you always climb without a harness?"

"No. I just didn't think about it."

"Well, hold on tight." He gave a smile at her and then let go of the wall. She put her arms around his neck hoping that he wouldn't drop her. It's not like she would die from the impact. It wouldn't be the first time that she fell from the walls but she would run the risk of him knowing that she was an Angel. When they got to the floor, she let go and walked to the wall.

A soft but loud voice said, "Time, 26 minutes."

"Well, I guess that I'm not that good if you got up that wall in only a few minutes."

"My best time is 10 minutes."

"Oh. So what now?"

"We fight. You wanted to fight, so we fight." She walked over to the ring. "You will now do three rounds of the walls. I expect you to finish them in less than an hour." Seth nodded and got out of the ring to start.

"Wow, Three? One was hard enough, I can't imagine three."

"Well, he deserves it. I was generous in the time restraint." She looked at his shocked expression. "Well, take off the harness and wrap your forearms and calves. I am going to be fighting back." He did as was told and then got in the ring. "Now don't do what you did last night. You said that there was a tournament. I'm sure that you want to win. I will teach you my strategy. You can take it and mold it into what the rules say. Now, to start off what is your position?"

"It's sort of like this." He bent his knees and put his fist in front of his face.

"Ok, so notice my stance." She put her foot back and put her fists together right below her chin. "This stance will give you more of an advantage because you can move freely and fast. Now, if we were facing each other at this tournament, what would be your first attack?" He ran for her and slid to get her off balance. She wasn't expecting that but reacted quickly and jumped and did a front flip. "That wasn't bad. You have learned from your mistakes last night." She stood up and Nate was already walking towards her.

"Of course I have." He stood right in front of her now. "And I believe that you have too." He went down and kicked her legs. She became unbalanced but did a flip and slid on the floor. She was on her knee with one leg out and her hands on the floor. "I didn't expect that though."

"Stop talking!" She ran and slammed him to the ground. She immediately jumped off of him and waited for him to get up. He was human, yes, but she was careful not to seriously hurt him. "I don't like talking."

"Really?" She stood up and turned to her. "Not even carrying on a conversation when fighting?" She ran toward him again. This time, he ducked down and was flat on the floor.

"NO, especially when fighting." She jumped and grabbed his arm and through him towards the other side of the other side of the ring.

"I think that your judgment gets impaired when you fight angry. That's a weakness."

"I think that you get cocky when you fight." She walked to him. "And I don't like cockiness, especially in the ring. That will be your downfall." She flipped him on his back.

"I'm not cocky. I'm just saying my thoughts out loud."

"Well I don't want to hear about it." She was caught off guard when Nate grabbed her arm and pulled her down. He then got up and flipped her on her back.

"Now don't say that you want me to win. This is a fight. You want to win don't yOu?" When saying you, he was kicked in the gut and pinned on the ground.

"You just caught me off guard. It won't happen again." She stood and walked to the other side of the ring.

He stood but didn't attack. "Ok, so, your weaknesses are: talking, anger, people, and feelings?"

"I have no weaknesses. "I don't like talking and people. I get angry but that doesn't impair my judgment. And I don't have feelings!" She went and tried to punch him but he blocked and dodges it.

"Really? Not even for Seth or your own mother? Do you not love them both?"

She kneed him in the gut and he fell to the ground. He was quick to get her off balance and fall too. "What do you mean love? I love no one. It is only a weakness that your enemies can have against you.

"So you don't love your mother?"

"NO, I don't she is only someone that I come home to and I don't talk to her much. She doesn't do much for me and she left me without any telling when she'll be back. I don't even know where she is." Nate stood and Vanessa didn't want him to look down at her so she got up too. She again tried to strike him but he dodged it. He was learning quickly.

"Really?" He punched her and she was knocked to the floor. "I didn't know."

"I don't need your pity." She didn't like talking, and she didn't like talking about this. She realized just than that he was talking about family and he let her beat him up when talking about it. He was different. Unlike Seth, who usually beat her into talking, Nate was fighting her when he was talking.

"I'm not giving you pity. I understand your situation. Both my parents leave without notice many times a month. I know that they are on business trips but I would like a notice on where and when they leave." He gave out a sigh.

"Your parents?"

"Yeah, my mother and father leave on quick business trips everywhere and they don't tell me about it."

"At least you have both of your parents I haven't truly seen my father in years. He and I had a conversation a few days ago but it was quick and we really didn't talk much. He only told me things." "How is he getting me to talk about my father? I don't talk about him to anyone except Seth. So why him?" "I do wish that I could see him again though." She sat down on the edge of the ring and Nate went and sit next to her.

"When did he leave?"

"He left me and my mother 4 years ago. We have only talked twice since then. He didn't really have a choice though." She brought her knees to her face and put her head on them. "That's why I don't like drawing. I do it all the time but all it does is remind me of him. I draw him a lot in my drawings. It's the same smiling person all the time. I can't forget his smiling face."

There was silence for a moment and she leaned on Nate's shoulder. He put his arm around her and a tear came out of her eye. She rubbed her eyes and then she felt him tighten his grip on her. "Well, I know you don't like to talk about it, but if you ever feel the need to hit something and talk about it, I'm here for you." She closed her eyes. She had started to cry. It was silent but she knew it. She had broken, like a piece of glass that fell on the floor and the pieces everywhere, she was broken. Nate put his chin on her head and said nothing. She didn't know why but she knew that he wasn't judging her because she cried in his arms. If anything, she felt better than before because she was in his arms. She had fallen asleep crying in his arms. The next thing she knew, she was in the back of her truck. It was silent and so she only moved her head and opened her eyes slightly. "It's ok, go back to sleep, we still have a good 30 minutes until we get to your house." Nate had turned and she smiled and moved so that she was now facing the back of the truck.

"Did she just wake up?"

"Yeah. She's still tired too."

"Well, it's good that she's sleeping right now." Those were the last words she heard before she went back to sleep. She woke up when the truck had stopped in her garage. "Ok, so you get her and I'll bring the stuff inside into her room."

"Alright. Do you want me to wake her or what?"

"No, just follow me and bring her into her room." Vanessa didn't want to walk all the way to her room so she pretended that she was still sleeping. Nate carefully got her out of the back seat and carried her up the stairs, following Seth. "Thanks, for being here."

"No, thank you. Without you, I don't know how I would get to her."

"You would find a way. You two belong together. She never was that open to me when we first got together and she has only told me bits and pieces. I able to put it together with the help of her mother but you were told the story, all by her." Vanessa heard her door open and they went into her room. She was put on her bed and she heard Seth say, "I'm going to go get the rest of the stuff and bring it in here, feel free to make some food if you want."

"Alright." Vanessa heard Seth leave and then felt Nate put his hand on hers. He took the seat for her desk and sat down. There was silence for a while and Vanessa moved her head so that she could see him. "Hey, you're home."

She let out a groan and stretched. She hadn't stretched to tell her muscles that she was awake yet. She rubbed her eyes and sat up. "How long was I out?"

"Almost the whole ride here." He looked around her room. "Nice room you've got here."

"Yeah. It's where I feel most comfortable in this house. I spend most of my time in here anyway." Her drawings were everywhere, on her walls, and on her shelves. It was like she had surrounded herself with them. She stood and got out of bed. She grabbed a few of her pictures that she has drawn and handed them to Nate. "I expect them back tomorrow but you can look at them so you can think of Angels as real people and not cartoons."

"Thanks." He took them and put them in the desk. "So, we were talking about the tournament and I thought that you might want to come and watch me, since you don't like their rules, you could at least come and watch me fight."

"I'll think about it." She didn't know how to act now, she had broken in front of him and so now he knows the weak side of her. She has never had this happen before. She only told bits and pieces to Seth so she wouldn't break down in front of him. This is the exact reason that she was so tough and blocked around people. She looked at him but she could see that he was fine with it. To him it seemed like he didn't remember what happened and is acting like nothing happened.

She heard Seth coming up the stairs. "Hey Nate, could you give me a hand, I think that something is slipping. She put a hand up and stopped Nate from doing it. She then opened the door and helped Seth. "Thanks Nate, That's a lot of help." When they got in her room, Seth casually said hi to Nate over his shoulder. "Wait, Nate? I thought that you were the one helping me."

"Think again." Vanessa put the bags down and walked back into her room. "Why do you two insist on not waking me up before taking me in and out of the truck?"

Seth stood silent and looked at Nate. Nate looked both confused and shocked. He shook his head. "If you want to be woken up, then ok."

"Thank you. I'm now going to eat something and then I will go to sleep. The both of you better be gone by the next time I get in here." She left to the kitchen. They both followed.

"Vanessa?"

"What?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm just going to be leaving." Nate said and turned to Seth. "Will you take me?"

"Sure." They left and Vanessa heated some food that her mother had made before she had left. She took her food and went to the couch in the living room. She didn't know why but it felt right. She ate her food and fell asleep.


	6. Nate's view Day 3

Chapter 6 (Nate's view)

Nate slept well after the strange dream he had. When he woke up, he felt refreshed. He was happy that he was no longer with Cassandra and that he had gotten to know Vanessa a little more. It was 5:49 and He was getting up. He went to his desk and started to draw. He checked the time on his phone. 30 missed messages, 12 new voice mails, all from Cassandra. He skimmed through the texts. They were all about how sorry she was and how she was going to change. He knew that it wasn't true. She was never going to change. He got dressed and went to school. When he noticed that Cassandra was waiting for him, he almost turned, but that would seem like he was running away. He parked and tried to ignore her but she ran up to him and hugged him. "Oh Nate, I'm so sorry, Please take me back!"

"No. Now leave me alone."

"Please?"

"I told you no." There were now people watching them. They had never seen Nate stick up for himself this way. He didn't care though. If Cassandra wanted to let them know that they weren't together now by embarrassing herself then so be it.

"Please take me back. I need you."

"No." He unhooked her arms from around his waist and kept walking. She pouted and went to class. All of the girls that watched were now all over Nate. He felt good. The only thought that brought him down was that the only girl that he wanted to fawn over him wasn't going to. He saw Seth's truck drop Vanessa off but ignored it because he knew that it was no time to talk. When the bell rang, He sat down and all the girls were watching him. He was actually trying to pay attention to the lesson but the looks that the girls were giving him were distracting.

Mr. Sy looked up at his class and noticed that none of the girls were paying attention, he stood there a minute and one of the boys raised his hand. "Mr. Sy, Nate and Cassandra broke up last night."

Mr. Sy looked up a Nate. "Is this true?" All of the girls simultaneously said yes with a sigh. "Well, I guess I should just leave you guys to the packet. You can only work with the people beside you though. No getting out of your seat." All of the girls put their heads down. Nate was surrounded by guys and so none of them could even talk to him.

Nate turned around to the only girl that sat next to him and watched her draw. "So, I guess you are the big ladies man here." She said mockingly.

"Yeah, I'm a catch. But I think that I'm going to stay single for a while, having all of these girls fawn over me feels well. It boosts my self confidence." He didn't really mean what he said. It did boost his self confidence but he wasn't a good single person. If Vanessa did have feelings for him like her so called "father" in his dream, then he would gladly not be single anymore.

"It boosts your giant ego is what it does." He smiled at her. She was right but put it more bluntly than he did. He knew that all of the girls in the room were jealous of her. Not because he liked her or anything like that but just because he was talking to her. He didn't want to flaunt that others were jealous.

"Hey so I was thinking, Could we fight again? I thought that it was fun last night and I would like to do it again." He was almost hesitant in asking. He whispered it so only she could hear. It wasn't noisy but there wasn't complete silence.

"Do you want to fight or do you want to train?" She still didn't look up at him. He noticed that she was avoiding looking at him. He didn't like it. He wanted to see her face.

The question almost slipped his mind. It was a good question. "Do I want to only fight or do I

want to actually train?" He thought about it. "I want to train."

"Ok. Come to my place after school and I'll take you to a place where I train my pupils."

"Oh, my goodness. Did she just say that? Is she serious? She invited me to train?" "Oh really? Ok then. I'll make a stop at my place first but alright. You can expect me about 3." He gave her another picture. "Here, am I getting any better at wings?" He drew the picture this morning before school. It was just a pair of wings on the back of a person, they weren't very complicated though. She looked at the girls staring.

"It's getting better but you haven't taken my advice yet. They still look like they are animated. It's better but not there. She put her head back down and then drew the outline of a person on what she was drawing. When the bell rang, the girls took the opportunity go get as close to Nate as possible. He tried to calm them down but instead, they got wilder.

His next two hours were like this. Every girl that got a chance ran up to him and wanted to be his girl. He knew that if he said yes, multiple things would happen. 1) Cassandra would get off his back. 2) Vanessa would definitely not want to be with him. 3) The girl that he said yes to would get beaten up. Not many of these girls could hold themselves if the group turned on them. He enjoyed the attention but it got awkward when he wanted to use the restroom. They tried to follow him in. A few of his friends acted like bodyguards and others went in with him. "I need one of your guises outfits. They won't leave me alone. Scotty, you go and take my car to lunch. If they think that I left, then they will leave me alone for a while. I can have lunch in peace." One of the guys laughed and then looked towards the door.

"Why would you want this to stop? It's every man's dream to have this."

"Ok, you're switching clothes with me then. The only thing that I ask you do is that you don't say that it's you till you leave and we all spread out."

"Fine but I don't see the problem." He went into a stall and so did the other guy. They switched outfits, and when they went out, everyone went in different directions. It wasn't until Nate was out of view that the other guy revealed that it was him instead of Nate. He hid in the bushes in the parking lot and watched Scotty drive away in his car. Only a minute later he saw his chance to get off campus. Vanessa was walking towards Seth's truck.

"Vanessa." He whispered, hoping that she would hear. She turned to him and walked closer.

"What? Are you hiding from your little fan base?"

"Just get me out of here. I ditched them and I need to not be seen. Please?" He didn't want to draw attention and she wasn't helping. She was his only hope though.

"Why don't you just get back with Cassandra or even better choose a random groupie and date her?"

"Vanessa, please I need to get out of here unnoticed." Vanessa rolled her eyes. He honestly expected her to do that, especially after this morning.

"Hold on. I have a plan but don't think that I'm helping you because of you I just don't want those girls around." She walked over to Seth's truck. He heard her say something but couldn't make it out. She acquired a jacket and a hat. He was already wearing someone else's clothes but he put it on just for safety.

"Thanks, I owe you one." He put them on and followed Vanessa to the truck. They both got in and Seth looked confused. Nate took off the hat and jacket and gave the things back to Seth. "Thanks Seth. I also owe you one."

"Hey Nate. Why did we do this?" Seth started to drive to Vanessa's house.

"I told you, it's a long story." Vanessa chimed. She was annoyed and it was obvious in her voice.

Nate realized that he was the one that was going to have to tell him. "Well, when all of the girls found out that I'm now single, they decided to follow me everywhere. I needed to get off campus without them knowing."

"So have you had enough ego for today? Or how did you phrase it? Oh, yeah self boosting?" He remembered what he said this morning. He did mean it at the time, but now it was agitating him a bit. He didn't like the girls trying to go EVERYWHERE that he went. It's nice to be wanted and all but it can get kind of creepy.

"Oh, ha. Ha. Very funny." When they arrived to her house, Vanessa got out of the truck and he looked at Seth.

"Don't worry about it. She's just a bit tired." They got out of the truck and went in the house. Nate saw her disappear when she turned the corner up stairs. "So Nate, are you hungry?" Nate turned around to Seth.

"Um, not really, thanks though." He went and sat on the couch in the living room and looked around at the pictures. He saw the one that he couldn't get out of his mind the night before. The Angel that she drew was the exact image as the man that visited his dreams. The man from his dreams had color though. All of the drawings that Vanessa drew were in black and white. He stood and walked over to the shelf that had most of the drawings on it. He examined all of them and saw multiple drawings of the man. He thought it was strange but didn't really think much of it.

"So, Nate. You're a catch at school are you?"

"Yeah. Mast girls drool over me." He looked back at Seth. He had a bowl of cereal in his hands.

"Let me guess. The only ones that don't drool over you are Vanessa, Cassandra, and the girls that already have a boyfriend."

Nate smirked to himself. That almost summed it up. "Even some of the girls that already have a man fawn all over me. The guys can't wait until I get a new girl. They either want to catch the fallen or get their girls back." He chuckled at the thought. It was best when he wasn't single.

"Well, I can imagine. If I had a girl that drooled all over you and ignored me, I would want you to have a girl too."They both sat down on the couch and started talking. Nate felt that Seth would understand him if he told him about his dream last night. The man did say that he shouldn't say anything to Vanessa about it but he need to tell someone and Seth would be the one to talk to.

"Seth, I have something to tell you. I need to tell someone or else I'm going to go nuts."

"Ok. What is it?"

"Well, I had a dream last night. I was sitting in a white room and it looked like an interrogation room, from the movies. A man came in the room and started talking to me. He said that his name was Conner. He also said that he was Vanessa's father. Was it him? He said that Vanessa's mother was." He paused for a moment. "What is Vanessa's mother's name?"

"Veronica."

"That's what he said it was. Am I crazy? How could I know what her mother's name was before now?"

"No, you're not crazy. That was her actual father. Although I'm surprised that he showed himself to you. What else did he say? He only tells people what they need to know before they made a stupid decision or to help someone else out."

"Wow." He was now speechless. "That was her father? This has happened more than once?" He thought to himself. "Well, He told me that I need to talk to Vanessa. He also told me to fight with her before I do so. That way, when she talked, she would have something to punch. She would get angry during the talking so fighting while talking, would get her to talk."

"Well, that's going to be hard. She never likes to talk when she fights. It only gets her even angrier. I wish you good luck because what you just said that was told to you, she is going to go on an all out rampage."

"Well, should I do it?"

"Yes. No question about it. I do wish you luck but if her father showed himself to you, you do what he said or you will regret it." There was silence for a while because Nate was trying to grasp on to the new reality that's taking place. They started talking again but the subjects changed. Their topics spread from sports to food. Mostly all guy stuff. Seth looked over to the clock. "Well, it's been nice talking to you but I think that we need to get going. They simultaneously looked up at the stairs. "I don't think that we should wake her if she's still sleeping. I know that she will be irritated that we didn't wake her up but it will be better in the long run." Seth started up the stairs and motioned Nate to follow him. Nate did so and Seth went into the room. Nate was hesitant but followed soon after. He saw Vanessa sound asleep. "I need you to carry her to the truck."

"What? Why me?" he asked in an annoyed whisper. "Why can't you do it?"

"Because I need to get the truck ready. Come on. Are you afraid of her?"

He felt stupid. He didn't want her to wake up in his arms and get mad. He did want to carry her and hold her close though. "Fine." He didn't let his emotions get out except one of annoyance. He went over to her and picked her up carefully. When he turned around, he found that Seth had already left the room. Vanessa moved slightly but didn't wake up. He was nervous but when he looked down he realized that she didn't wake up and that she was now facing him in his arms. He slowly and cautiously made his way down stairs and to the truck so that she wouldn't wake up. He carefully put her in the back of the truck and did her seat belt. She was lying on the seat and he got shotgun. Seth already had the truck started and they went to the school.

Nate and Seth were talking like they had been in the living room at Vanessa's place. Nate looked back at Vanessa who was sound asleep. "Seth, how long does she sleep at night?"

"I don't know. It must not be enough though."

"So when does she usually wake up?"

"Well, I find her awake around 4 or 4:30. That's when I get to her house anyway. I don't know when she falls asleep but she has been taking naps during lunch every day now."

"So you go to her house every morning?" Nate was having a good talk with Seth. The topic was now Vanessa. He decided that Seth would be the best to give him information about her because he knew that Vanessa wouldn't tell him anything more than he already knows.

"Ever since she had a breakdown during out training. I offered to take her to and from school so she wouldn't have to deal with all of the people drooling over her truck or anyone else for that matter. She's not really a people person but I'm pretty she's warming up to you."

That statement caught him off guard. He knew that she wasn't a people person and that she was warming up to him but he thought that it was all in his mind, her feelings that is."

"I think so, she hasn't beaten you to a pulp and she helped you today. I haven't seen her like this in years. I think that she even has some feelings for you."

This came from Vanessa's oldest friend and only friend that he was aware of. If he could tell something was up then something was up. "Feelings? For me?" Even saying it out loud made him feel weird.

"Don't tell her that I mentioned it. She'll kill me. She doesn't even want to admit it to herself." Nate noticed that he cut himself off. Even if it was the end of the sentence. He turned and looked at Vanessa. "Hey, Vanessa. How was your sleep?"

That made Nate nervous. How long was she really awake? She made a little grown as she tried to stretch. "Why didn't you guys wake me earlier?"

"Well, we didn't want to disturb you and so I carried you down carefully and put you in the back carefully." Seth looked in the rearview mirror. She was trying to sit up.

"Well, it would have been nice." She yawned again and rubbed her eyes. She looked at them questionably. "So, what time is it?"

"We are almost at the school. It's 11:15."

She put her head back. Nate noticed that she looked to be in pain. He thought back when he had carried her down. He had accidently bumped the truck and he was afraid that he had hit her too. Apparently he did. He felt guilty but it didn't show. He was getting better at hiding his emotions now that he was hanging around Vanessa and Seth. "Seth, can't we just turn back. I don't have to go."

"Yes, but you told your mother that you would. It's only Wednesday."

"Fine."

Nate was confused. "Is there a reason that he specified that it was only Wednesday?" He contemplated to himself. "Why don't you want to go to school?" Nate turned around so that he could see her.

"People. People like Scotty, People like Cassandra, and People like you." He was taken back about that last part. He decided that it was only because she just woke up that she was so angry. When they got to the parking lot, there weren't any people there. Apparently they had all wondered to find Nate. Nobody had seen him leave and that would mean that he was hiding on campus. Nate and Vanessa got out of the truck and Vanessa had walked fast away from him. He stayed back so that people wouldn't suspect anything. When he walked on campus, he heard a girl yell his name and he prepared for the ambush. He walked to his next class and all of the teachers now knew that he was single. Thankfully, they were on his side and they told all of the girls that if they weren't in his next hour that they can't be in there. That narrowed the crowed to only a few girls. He went in and sat down. Up until the bell rang, the girls were around him, but when the bell rang, they all went to their seats. He noticed that passing wasn't near as bad and he decided to walk around for a bit. Between 6th and 7th hour, he saw Scotty talking to Vanessa. She had the look of pure annoyance. He decided to intervene. He stepped in front of them.

"Hey, Nate. How are you?"

"Good." He glanced at Vanessa. She was annoyed and didn't hide it. He thought of a way to get him away from her and so he looked at the girls. "Say, Scotty, You can have a choice of any of these girls."

"Really? Hm." Vanessa looked at him confused. He rolled his eyes and gestured to her to keep walking. She did and Scotty wasn't following her. He was proud of himself. He looked back at Scotty. He was now flirting with one of the girls. She seemed to be ok with his flirting and so he went over to Scotty.

"Hey, Scotty, I'll lend you my car for the rest of the evening."

"Really? You mean it?"

"Yeah, you can take this girl out to where ever you want. Tell them to put it on my tab."

"Dude thanks man." Nate smiled knowing that it wasn't going to work out between him and the girl. Scotty wasn't a commitment type of person.

Nate left them and he still had girls tailing him. He went to his last hour. He remembered that he had Vanessa's house number on him phone. He left to use the bathroom and was glad when the teacher told the girls to sit back down. When he was in the halls, he found that it was empty. He knew that it was a shot in the dark that Seth would be there, but he had to try. It rang and rang. At the last second, Seth answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Thank goodness that you're there." Nate let out a breath that he was holding.

"Nate? Why are you calling?"

"I need your help to get off campus after school."

"Alright, what do you want me to do?"

"Go to the parking lot across the street from the school and wait. I'll make my escape there. When you first see me, don't react or anything. I'll be alone when I'm ready to leave."

"Ok, I'll be there."

"Thanks." Nate hung up the phone and looked around. The hall was still empty and he went back into the class. He thought how he would ditch the girls that would certainly follow him. When the bell rang, he quickly went down the halls but made it look like he wasn't in a rush. The girls followed him, as expected, and he made his way to the restaurant across the school. It was crowded with people and they didn't pay much attention to him. The only people that played any attention to him were the girls following him. "Hey, girls, I will go out with the first one of you that gets me a chocolate rose that has a ring that I put on it. The girls went and scattered. None of them even realized that he left the store. He immediately walked to Seth's truck and got in the back. "Thanks man. I don't know what I would do without you."

"It's no problem, but be quiet. Vanessa is probably already angry at me for being late, so I don't want her to get any angrier."

"Alright." They went and picked up Vanessa. Seth was right about her being frustrated with him. She practically slammed the door and didn't say anything. The truck was silent all the way to her house, and when they parked, she got out and stormed into the house.

Seth rolled his eyes and looked back at Nate. "She knows that you are here. Let's leave her alone for a bit. Let her blow off some steam." Nate nodded and followed him as he went inside. They sat down and watched the Base ball game that was going on. It was the bottom of the 8th and it wasn't looking like the loosing team had any hope left. It was 11 to 4 and they had 2 strikes against them already. When the game was over, they both sat in silence.

Nate looked at the clock. It was an hour after they got home and he needed to go to his house to get ready. "Seth, could you take me to my place? I need to get changed if we are going to train today."

"What? Train? When did you two decide this?"

"This morning in 1st hour. I'm the one that asked her to fight again but she's the one that offered to train."

"Really?" He had a look of interest but didn't say anything else. He just got up and went to the garage door. Nate followed assuming that he was going to take him. They got in the truck and went to his house. It wasn't crowded with girls, which Nate was thankful for, and they went inside. He motioned for Nate to follow him and they entered his room. "So what do I need to have for training with Vanessa?"

"Well, she has most of the supplies with her if we are training like you say. You will need to have on a muscle shirt and some basketball shorts. Oh, and some bandages. She tends to never have enough. Nate did as he was told. He went into the bathroom that was connected to his room and changed he also got some wraps and put them in his bag. He remembered that Seth was injured from training with her and that made him take even more bandages than he would have.

"I'm ready." He told Seth and walked out of the room. They got some waters and left. When they got back, they noticed that Vanessa was still in her room and hadn't come out yet.

"I'll go and wake her up. If she's moody, blame it on sleep. Don't get offended on what she says ok?"

"Ok."

Nate watched Seth go up to her room and tried to listen to their conversation. He couldn't hear what Vanessa was saying. "Vanessa, you need to eat. I know that you haven't eaten all day. Come on Vanessa." There was a pause of silence and he heard her door being opened.

"I don't care, I'm tired. I'm going to sleep."

"Didn't you tell Nate that you would train him?"

"Uug. Fine."

"You need to eat first. You have absolutely no energy." Nate walked to the kitchen and sat down at the counter. He watched Seth carry her into the kitchen and sit her down at the counter. "So, Nate, How's Cassandra taking the break up? We haven't talked about her yet."

That was a subject that he didn't want to talk about. "Well, she came to my house this morning and begged me to get back together. I said no and she cried. She hasn't said a word to me since. I guess it's better that way."

"Lucky you." Vanessa croaked.

"What?" He didn't think that Cassandra would approach her at all.

"You lucky thing. I got stopped by her. Please explain why she thinks that I'm the reason for you two breaking up. I could have broken her without any sweat. Instead I only hurt her with the truth. I hope that she'll leave me alone now." She looked up at him.

He didn't like what Cassandra did. Vanessa wasn't one of the reasons that they broke up. He did have some feelings for her when he and Cassandra were together but her would have stayed faithful to her if she wasn't acting so jealous all the time. "I honestly don't know. When we were together, she was most jealous of you. I don't know why she saw you as the biggest threat."

Seth chuckled a little. "What do you think is so funny?" Vanessa wasn't the best to deal with when she was just waking up. Seth didn't find it intimidating though. He'd known her for so long that it had little to no impact on him.

"Nothing. I just find this situation funny. Here's your food. Eat."

Nate stood up and went into the fridge to get something small to eat as well. He watched her get up and turn to him. "So, I'm not happy at the situation that I have been put in. I don't like you at my house and so if you want to train, you will train at my level." She then looked at Seth. "And you will train even harder. We will go to the mountain." She walked to the living room. "Let me get ready and we will leave."

He looked at Seth questionably. "The mountain?"

"Yes, it's where we go and train in private. It will take an hour by truck to get there." Seth turned and walked out of the kitchen. "We have about 5 minutes for her to get ready. I would be ready to leave quickly."

Nate and Seth waited in the living room for Vanessa as she got ready. They were talking about random things, such as, the game that they had just watched, who would win against two opposing team and other sports related topics. They hadn't realized that Vanessa came down until she started to yell at them. . "Why are you weaklings just sitting around? Let's go." She went into the garage and through the stuff into the back of her truck and tied them down.

"Vanessa, Could I drive? I know how tired you are, on our way, you could sleep a little more." Nate watched as Seth tried to persuade her to let him drive. They were going in her truck and not Seth's. He could see that she didn't want him to drive and he could see why. It was her baby. He could tell that she had worked on this truck. You can't buy a truck like this. You either had someone else do it or you did it yourself and knowing that Vanessa doesn't like people, he safely assumed that she did it.

"Fine, but I'm going to increase your warm up." She climbed into the back and lied down on the seat. Nate got in the passenger's seat.

It was silent for the first 15 minutes. "So, Nate," Seth started to say when he started the truck. "How are those ladies?"

Nate could tell that he was mocking him. He let out a chuckle and then looked at Seth. "Please, you know that I." He paused his sentence and looked back at Vanessa.

"Don't worry, she's sound asleep."

"You know that I don't care for any of them."

"I know. I just find it funny. Everyone knows that you two belong to each other, but she just denies it. She isn't used to feeling things for people. Even when she and I were together, she never really showed much affection."

"What? You two were a thing?" Nate wasn't expecting that.

"Yeah, it was when she first moved and she needed comfort. I was the only thing she had left of her life that didn't change and so we became a thing. She broke it off after she moved the second time but I was still there for her. We became even better friends than before but she never felt the same feelings since then. I only know that she has some sort of feelings for you is because she usually gets kicked out of school by now. She usually beats up someone that got on her last nerve or she threatens a teacher and then that gets out of control. You on the other hand, have made some part of her hold back. I don't think that you will be in too much danger when she fights you because she will hold back. She's a whole lot stronger than you and you have only seen the tip of the iceberg."

"Really? I wouldn't have imagined that she was a fighter when I first met her, let alone that strong."

"She doesn't look it but she's stronger than me. She is one of the best fighter's that I know. She doesn't usually train regular people though. She's so good that she trains the trainers at the official training grounds that she and I train at."

"Wow. So, what's the mountain like?"

"Well, it's just a large building at the top of a mountain that not many people know about. She had it built when she first heard that she would be moving. It has a big room when you first go in and it has a 'throne room' feel to it. To the right, when you first enter, is the actual training room. It's just as big as the room that you go in when you first enter. To the left is a long hallway that has a bedroom at the end. Also in the hall way is a kitchen and a bathroom. She used to spend weeks at a time up there. She knew that she would when she told people to build it, so she decided that it would be useful. In the training room, there are four rock climbing walls. In the middle of the room is a fighting ring, and there are three rooms that it leads to. One is a large walk in closet full of different things used for training. Another one of the rooms is a shower room, used for cool offs after a tough workout. The last room is a simulator room. It can simulate weather, gravity, and other things that would change your work out climate."

Nate thought that the simulator room wasn't real but knowing Vanessa, and even Seth, it might be possible. He had never heard of such a thing but he sat there and thought about it for a while. The trip there didn't feel like a full hour but looking at the clock in the truck, it was indeed an hour. When they parked, Nate felt time pause as he examined the magnificent building. It was bigger than he had imagined and that was saying a lot. He imagined it to be huge and it was enormous. They both got out of the truck and decided that they would wake Vanessa up when they got everything in there and set up. They had put the bags of training gear down just when Vanessa stormed into the room. . "Seth set up the rock walls, the ring, and the simulator. Nate, you will help me get some things out of the supply closet." She went into the closet and looked around. Nate followed her and watched as she looked around the room of things. "Hey, Nate, get the dodge balls off the shelf and bring the bag to the simulator."

"Alright. Where exactly is the simulator?" He had looked around the training room but didn't look into each room to see what it was. All that he knew was that it was in the training room.

"Go out to the ring, turn to the opposite side that you came in, that's the door that goes to the simulator room. If the light is green you can enter safely." She turned and grabbed some rope. Nate left and she did too. He did what he was told and went into the simulator room. He did make sure that the light was green before he went in. It was a perfectly white room with a large control panel, about waist high, which went around the whole room. He put the balls down and walked around the room and examined the controls. He read them and stopped at the one that said gravity. He didn't believe it but he decided not to test it out because neither Seth nor Vanessa were in there with him. He walked around and he was about to open the door when he heard Vanessa yell. "Spill it! Where is she? She hasn't told me anything about where she has gone."

"I'm sorry; she told me that I can't tell you. She did say that if you found out that I knew that I should tell you that she'll tell you when she gets back in a few days." Nate became confused. That wasn't the voice of Seth. It had to be somebody that he didn't know. He was nervous and hesitant but made the decision not to open the door. He took his hand off of the handle but still listened to the conversation. . "Hey, Someone else is here isn't there?"

"How did you know?"

"Remember, I can feel people's powers. I can feel yours, Seth's, mine, and someone else's. It's not very strong though." The voice didn't seem to be older than 12 years old.

"How does a 12 year old get away with calling me weak? I'm the strongest person that trains in the ring. And he's only 12." He went back and noticed that the kid said something when he was talking to himself. He became mad at himself for not knowing what he had said. Instead, he heard Vanessa's voice.

"No, and that's why you can't be here. Sorry but I'll make up for it tomorrow." Nate was about to open the door when he again heard her voice. "Why did I do this?"

"Because you have feelings for this guy. You need to stop denying it." He knew that was Seth's voice. He listened even closer because of what he said.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what you're talking about. I feel nothing. All I want to do is pound in both of your faces. Yours, because you keep insisting it, and him because he keeps being around me." Nate heard Vanessa say. It had the most hatred that he had heard her say. It didn't upset him though. He knew that she doesn't like to think about those feelings let alone, talk about them. He opened the door and made it look like he didn't hear anything that was said when he wasn't in the room. He was happy, happy that he was here, happy that the training would soon start, and happy that he was with her. "How could he be so happy right now?"

He needed to say something so he said the first logical thing that came to his head. "That's a cool room. So what's first?"

"Well, first I want to see how fast you are at rock climbing." She walked over to a wall. Out of all of them, it looked the easiest to climb. It was tall but it didn't seem hard at all. She pushed a few buttons and then looked at him as a green light started to blink. Seth went over to him and started hooking him up to the rock wall. Seth looked back and nodded at Vanessa. "5…4…3…2…1…" She started the clock and Nate started to climb the rock walls. It was easy to get to the top. It was at least three stories tall though, so it took a while. The second wall was a bit harder than the first one but he still made it. He was almost out of breath when he got to the third one and it'd difficulty was harder than the second one. It took longer time than he wanted but when he got to the top, he looked at the clock. 19 minutes. He got down and went to the fourth and final one. He glanced back at the clock and it had been 20 minutes. He didn't believe that it took a whole minute to get from the top of the third wall to the bottom of the fourth one. He knew that it would be difficult to climb the last wall. He was winded and it didn't make the most difficult wall any easier. It had taken him a while but he was almost to the top and noticed that Vanessa was also climbing the wall. She got to the top almost right after he did. He was astonished that she had climbed it so quickly. He looked at her and couldn't read any emotion in her eyes. "You did good, for a beginner." He smiled.

"Thanks." His eyes widened as he looked her over. "You aren't wearing a harness. How did you get up so fast?"

"Well, what you just did, that's my warm up."

"You have got to be kidding." He then thought to himself, her warm up? She does this to warm up?" She nodded and her foot slipped out of place. Nate grabbed her before she could fall. "Do you always climb without a harness?"

"No. I just didn't think about it."

"Well, hold on tight." He gave a smile at her and then let go of the wall. She put her arms around his neck which made him feel good. When they got to the floor, she let go and walked to the wall. A soft but loud voice said, "Time, 26 minutes." "Well, I guess that I'm not that good if you got up that wall in only a few minutes." He still couldn't believe that she climbed up that fast but it was starting to make more since that she climbed them all as a warm up.

"My best time is 10 minutes."

"Oh. So what now?" He was definitely surprised at her time.

"We fight. You wanted to fight, so we fight." She walked over to the ring. "You will now do three rounds of the walls. I expect you to finish them in less than an hour." Seth nodded and got out of the ring to start.

Nate was taken back at her orders to Seth. Three of what he just did would kill him, and the time restraint. He could never to that. It took him a little less than half an hour to finish only one round. "Wow, Three? One was hard enough, I can't imagine three."

"Well, he deserves it. I was generous in the time restraint. Well, take off the harness and wrap your forearms and calves. I am going to be fighting back." He was shocked to say the least but he did as was told and then got in the ring. "Now don't do what you did last night. You said that there was a tournament. I'm sure that you want to win. I will teach you my strategy. You can take it and mold it into what the rules say. Now, to start off what is your position?"

"It's sort of like this." He bent his knees and put his fist in front of his face. It was his normal fighting stance.

"Ok, so notice my stance." She put her foot back and put her fists together right below her chin. "This stance will give you more of an advantage because you can move freely and fast. Now, if we were facing each other at this tournament, what would be your first attack?" He thought for a moment and decided that he needed get her distracted or off balance.

He ran for her and slid to get her off balance. She wasn't expecting that but reacted quickly and jumped and did a front flip. "That wasn't bad. You have learned from your mistakes last night." She stood up and Nate was already walking towards her.

"Of course I have." He stood right in front of her now. "And I believe that you have too." He remembered what had happened last night. He was this distance away from her. He changed his tactics to get her off guard. ." He went down and kicked her legs. She became unbalanced but did a flip and slid on the floor. She was on her knee with one leg out and her hands on the floor. "I didn't expect that though." He thought that she would react differently.

"Stop talking!" She ran and slammed him to the ground. She immediately jumped off of him and waited for him to get up. It had almost knocked the wind out of him. "I don't like talking."

"Really?" He stood up and turned to her. "Not even carrying on a conversation when fighting?" She ran toward him again. This time, he ducked down and was flat on the floor. He knew that she didn't like to talk when she fought already and expected her to attack like that.

"NO, especially when fighting." She jumped and grabbed his arm and through him towards the other side of the other side of the ring.

"I think that your judgment gets impaired when you fight angry. That's a weakness."

"I think that you get cocky when you fight." She walked to him. "And I don't like cockiness, especially in the ring. That will be your downfall." She flipped him on his back.

"I'm not cocky. I'm just saying my thoughts out loud." He didn't like when she called him cocky. That was one thing that he didn't think that he was.

"Well I don't want to hear about it." She was caught off guard when Nate grabbed her arm and pulled her down. He then got up and flipped her on her back. He didn't expect her to be this distracted when she was both talking and fighting.

"Now don't say that you want me to win. This is a fight. You want to win don't yOu?" When saying you, he was kicked in the gut and pinned on the ground.

"You just caught me off guard. It won't happen again." She stood and walked to the other side of the ring.

He stood but didn't attack. "Ok, so, your weaknesses are: talking, anger, people, and feelings?"

"I have no weaknesses. "I don't like talking and people. I get angry but that doesn't impair my judgment. And I don't have feelings!" She went and tried to punch him but he blocked and dodges it.

"Really? Not even for Seth or your own mother? Do you not love them both?" He knew that she didn't like feelings but didn't expect anything like this. Her feelings were as hard as stone.

She kneed him in the gut and he fell to the ground. He was quick to get her off balance and fall too. "What do you mean love? I love no one. It is only a weakness that your enemies can have against you.

"So you don't love your mother?"

"NO, I don't she is only someone that I come home to and I don't talk to her much. She doesn't do much for me and she left me without any telling when she'll be back. I don't even know where she is." Nate stood and was looking down at Vanessa. It didn't last long as she too stood up. She again tried to strike him but he dodged it. He was learning quickly.

"Really?" He punched her and she was knocked to the floor. "I didn't know." He didn't think that it was that bad. His parents were the same way, so he could sympathize with what she's going through.

"I don't need your pity."

Nate knew that pity was the last thing that he wanted her to get from him. "I'm not giving you pity. I understand your situation. Both my parents leave without notice many times a month. I know that they are on business trips but I would like a notice on where and when they leave." He gave out a sigh.

"Your parents?"

"Yeah, my mother and father leave on quick business trips everywhere and they don't tell me about it."

"At least you have both of your parents I haven't truly seen my father in years. He and I had a conversation a few days ago but it was quick and we really didn't talk much. He only told me things."

Nate wasn't sure if she saw him like he saw him or not but he got her talking about him. That much of what he had said to him was true. She sat down on the edge of the ring and Nate went and sat next to her. "When did he leave?"

"He left me and my mother 4 years ago. We have only talked twice since then. He didn't really have a choice though." She brought her knees to her face and put her head on them. "That's why I don't like drawing. I do it all the time but all it does is remind me of him. I draw him a lot in my drawings. It's the same smiling person all the time. I can't forget his smiling face."

There was silence for a moment and she leaned on Nate's shoulder. He put his arm around her and a tear came out of her eye. She rubbed her eyes and then she felt him tighten his grip on her. "Well, I know you don't like to talk about it, but if you ever feel the need to hit something and talk about it, I'm here for you." He liked that she was opening up to him but he didn't like how she was doing it. He didn't like to see her sad and crying. This was the first time but he knew that she didn't do it often and he didn't like it. She closed her eyes. She had started to cry. Nate put his chin on her head and said nothing. All he wanted to do was comfort her. She had fallen asleep crying in his arms. He had felt that her breathing became steady and knew that she was asleep. He looked over to Seth. He was half way through his second round and so Nate just sat there with Vanessa in his arms. He thought about how she would act differently around him now. It was only one of two possibilities. One, she would be more comfortable around him and they would talk more, or two, she would close him off completely because she had cried in front of him and showed weakness, He contemplated and thought that the second was more likely but he had hoped for the first. He only looked up when he heard a soft voice come from the speakers. "45 minutes, 3 turns." Seth was at the wall and leaning against it.

"45 minutes. That's not bad. I would say that's an all new record for me." He smiled and looked at Nate. "I see that she's sleeping now."

Nate chuckled. "What do we do now?"

Seth walked over to him and stood in front of him with his arms folded. Nate could tell that he was thinking things over. "Well, I think that we should be getting back. You can carry her to the truck and put her in the back. I'll take the stuff and put it in the truck. I don't think that she'll be waking up until we get on the road" Seth went to the bags and started packing what they had gotten out. Nate slowly got Vanessa situated in his arms so that he wouldn't drop her and went to the truck. He put her in the back and climbed into the passenger's seat. He started to unwrap the wrappings that were around his arm and saw that he was bleeding on his arm. Around it was going to be a bruise around the cut. He bandaged it up and saw that that was the only open wound that he had. He had some minor bruises from where she punched him and on his legs, where he fell but other than that, he would be alright. Seth got into the truck. They didn't say anything almost the entire ride home. They heard some stirring in the back and Nate said, "It's ok, go back to sleep, we still have a good 30 minutes until we get to your house." Nate had turned and she smiled and moved so that she was now facing the back of the truck. He smiled and turned around again.

"Did she just wake up?"

"Yeah. She's still tired too."

"Well, it's good that she's sleeping right now. You wouldn't want her to be awake. She would be even angrier at the both of us. It was silent until they had pulled up in Vanessa's garage. "Ok, so you get her and I'll bring the stuff inside into her room."

"Alright. Do you want me to wake her or what?"

"No, just follow me and bring her into her room." Nate did as he was told and carefully get her out of the back seat without waking her. He smiled to himself. For being so strong, she was light and easy to carry. He followed Seth to her room. . "Thanks, for being here."

"No, thank you. Without you, I don't know how I would get to her."

"You would find a way. You two belong together. She never was that open to me when we first got together and she has only told me bits and pieces. I was able to put it together with the help of her mother but you were told the story, all by her." They walked into Vanessa's room and he laid her down on her bed. "I'm going to go get the rest of the stuff and bring it in here, feel free to make some food if you want."

"Alright." He put his hand on hers. He knew that he got to her and had hoped that she wouldn't just shut him out after what had happened. He sat down at her desk and watched as she spun so that she was looking at him. She looked like she had just woken up. "Hey, you're home."

She let out a groan and stretched. He leaned back and watched her rub her eyes and slowly sit up on her bed. "How long was I out?"

"Almost the whole ride here." He looked around her room. "Nice room you've got here."

"Yeah. It's where I feel most comfortable in this house. I spend most of my time in here anyway." Her drawings were everywhere, on her walls, and on her shelves. It was like she had surrounded herself with them. She stood and got out of bed. She grabbed a few of her pictures that she has drawn and handed them to Nate. "I expect them back tomorrow but you can look at them so you can think of Angels as real people and not cartoons."

"Thanks." He took them and put them in the desk. "So, we were talking about the tournament and I thought that you might want to come and watch me, since you don't like their rules, you could at least come and watch me fight."

"I'll think about it." He could tell that she wasn't herself and acted a bit awkward like she didn't know what to do next. He turned his head as he heard Seth call to him.

"Hey Nate, could you give me a hand, I think that something is slipping." He had stood but Vanessa put a hand up to stop him. She then opened the door and helped Seth. "Thanks Nate, That's a lot of help." When they got in the room, Seth casually said hi to Nate over his shoulder. "Wait, Nate? I thought that you were the one helping me."

"Think again." Vanessa put the bags down and walked back into her room. "Why do you two insist on not waking me up before taking me in and out of the truck?"

Seth stood silent and looked at Nate. Nate was both confused and shocked as he shook his head. He didn't know what she was thinking. . "If you want to be woken up, then ok." Seth said and turned to look at her.

"Thank you. I'm now going to eat something and then I will go to sleep. The both of you better be gone by the next time I get in here." She left to the kitchen. They both followed.

Nate wanted to ask her how she was. She wasn't acting like herself and he knew it was because of her mental breakdown. "Vanessa?"

"What?"

He decided that it wasn't the time to ask her. "Oh, nothing. I'm just going to be leaving." Nate said and turned to Seth. "Will you take me?"

"Sure." They left to the garage and went into Seth's truck. "So, why did you stop?"

"Stop? Stop what?"

"You didn't ask her your question and I know it. Now why did you stop?"

"Well, I know her and you know her better than I do. Even I know that right then wasn't the time to ask her." They drove to Nate's place. He saw that Scotty hadn't brought back his car yet but he didn't mind.

"Hey, what time do you go over to Vanessa's?"

"About 4:30. Why?"

"Ok, could you pick me up then? I know that girls will be at me door wanting to give me a chocolate rose with a ring on it tomorrow morning so if it's that early, they won't be here to see that I've gone."

"A chocolate rose with a ring on it?"

"It's a lot to explain. I'll tell you about it tomorrow." Seth nodded and let Nate get out of his truck. He honked his horn when Nate reached his door.

"Tomorrow morning. 4:30 or I won't do it." Nate nodded and then went into his house. It was empty, as usual and he crashed on his couch.

~The dream~

He woke up after an hour and became confused. He had a dream but it didn't have Vanessa's father. He said that he would be visiting often. He assumed that he would have come tonight too. He went to the kitchen. He looked around and took a soda out of the fridge. "That's not good for your training boy." Nate turned around and saw a figure in the shadows. He didn't turn his kitchen light on when he entered and just went to the fridge.

"Who are you?"

The figure went over to the lights and turned it on. It was female and she looked a whole lot like Vanessa but he knew that it wasn't her. This woman was older. "I don't believe that I've introduced myself. My name is Veronica. I'm Vanessa's mother."

Nate instantly recognized her from the pictures that were in the living room at Vanessa's. "How did you get in here?"

"It wasn't hard. My husband helped me. I do believe that he visited you last night, am I correct?" Nate nodded. He couldn't think of any words to say. "Well, Now, I applaud you on the fact that you got to my daughter. I have been trying for years to have her talk to me. Her father says that it's just because she hasn't met you yet. I ask of you what Conner did. Don't tell Vanessa that I came and talked to you. I know what she said about me leaving. Just know that it's a good thing and that I will be back on Friday." She went over to Nate and leaned on the counter. "I know that you're being told a lot but I'm going to tell you this. Her father's coming back. I need you to not say anything to anyone about that fact. Not even to Seth. You can talk to him about anything else but don't mention her father. He won't talk to you on it. That's why I was sent here to you instead of him and coming to you. He is going and talking to Seth. Just to let you know. I'm glad that you like my daughter. You're not like the boys I grew up around. So, some advice for tomorrow, she won't ignore you or try and get away from you. What you need to realize is that it's not normal for her to do what she did. She doesn't know how to react to you now that you have seen the weakness in her. Not even Seth has had her start to talk to him about her father, let alone cry. You need to take action, but cautiously. She will close if you just pounce on her. She will think how to close you out if you do. She'll think that you went after her because you find her at a weak state."

"Ok, I trust you. Only because I have no reason to think otherwise, but how am I to approach her to make her feel ok around me and not awkward?"

"You'll see your opportunity. Thank you forgiving my daughter a way to feel." Veronica put her hand on Nate's shoulder and he blinked and they were now both in the kitchen of Vanessa's house. Veronica put a finger to her lips and then walked to Vanessa, who was lying on her couch in the living room. She took out a note pad in her pocket and wrote her a note. **"I saw that you were sound asleep so I didn't want to wake you. I made Nate's breakfast and you a little something too. I know that you feel weak but I know that you're strong. Nate's a good person and he wouldn't take you for granted. When I come home, I will bring a surprise home with me. I love you and I thank you for still going to school, even though I'm not there to make it so." **She put the note on the coffee table and then looked back at Nate. He was still shocked that they were in her house. He thought that he was dreaming. It was so real though. It felt like the night before when he had talked to Vanessa's father, Conner. Veronica walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder and they were back in his living room. When she took her hand off, he felt light headed and fell on his couch. He was asleep the instant he touched the couch.

Alright, that's one of the longer ones. Tell me how you are liking my story. Reviews are greatly appreciated.


	7. Vanessa's view Day 4

Chapter 7 (Vanessa's view)

Vanessa woke up and was just lying on the couch. She thought about much of what had happened the day before. She looked over and saw a note on the table next to her. "Ugh, I wish that she told me these things herself, in person. Enough notes already, I need to see her. I need to ask where she is, or has been. I can't stand it anymore." She picked the note up and saw that it was indeed her mother's note... **"I saw that you were sound asleep so I didn't want to wake you. I made Nate's breakfast and you a little something too. I know that you feel weak but I know that you're strong. Nate's a good person and he wouldn't take you for granted. When I come home, I will bring a surprise home with me. I love you, and I thank you for still going to school, even though I'm not there to make it so."** Vanessa flipped it over, making sure that she didn't miss anything like last time. There was nothing. She sat there in silence for a bit. It was earlier than she got up and Seth should be getting here soon. Vanessa heard a truck pull in to her garage and she walked to it. She saw Seth get out and Nate's head out from the corner of her eye. "Is there any reason that you had to bring him along?" She didn't like him here when she didn't know that it was going to happen.

"I'm sorry, he asked me to pick him up." He said in an annoyed voice, then he said in a mocking way, "Said that he didn't want to be ambushed by girls."

Vanessa rolled her eyes and turned around, not even looking at Nate. She wasn't ignoring him, she just didn't want to talk to him, and she didn't know what to say. She held the door open for them. As they went through, she noticed that Seth glanced at her. She knew what he was thinking, and she caught a smile on Nate's face as he passed. She turned when they were both inside and she went to the kitchen. "Seth, my mother made us some food for breakfast. If you're hungry, come and eat." She pulled out a tray full of food and Seth walked in.

"What do you mean if?" He grabbed his tray of food and went back to the living room.

"That's just like him," She thought. "He's always hungry." She got her plate of food and went to the living room. The TV was on and it was a recorded baseball game. Nate and Seth were talking about the game and didn't seem to notice as she walked past them and on to the couch. The couch was perpendicular to the loveseat. Seth was on the love seat and Nate was on the couch. Vanessa sat on the opposite side of the couch and watched the game. She wasn't really into these types of sports but it was clear that this sport is what the two guys in the room bonded over. She started to eat her breakfast and when she was done, she stood up and went back into the kitchen. She could hear the game loud and clear, even in the other room. She was glad that this house was sound proof, otherwise, the neighbors would complain about the noise a whole lot. When she went back into the living room, she noticed the time. "It's only 4:45? Really? She watched the game a bit more and enjoyed watching the two's reaction to the game. She knew all about the game of baseball but had never seemed to enjoy it as they did.

Vanessa realized that it was now 5:15 and she went to her room to get ready. She took a shower and put on new clothes. She had a towel around her back because her hair was still soaked and she went down to get a drink. The game was over and neither of the two was in the room. When she walked into the kitchen, she became even more confused than she already was. They weren't in there either. She heard running in the back yard and she opened the door. She saw them running and wrestling and all of that. She didn't believe it. They were acting like they had known each other forever. She went outside and it was just sunrise. The bright red and yellow still filled the sky. It was cloudy but that only intensified the colors. "I see the two of you are having fun."

They stopped and turned to her. They both smiled. She had a genuine smile on her face. It was the first time that Nate had truly seen it and Seth hadn't seen it in a long while. She Walked forward and sat on a tire swing. It was old but still sturdy. It hangs from a tall and sturdy branch in the tall tree. "What's got you so happy this morning?" She turned to Seth. She knew he was thinking that she was out of character today.

"I don't know. Any who, sorry Nate, but I can't train with you today. I promised Nate's brother Eric that I would train him today." She watched him unfazed. He didn't seem to be upset by this news.

"It's alright. I understand. I have some things to do today anyway."

Seth tilted his head at Nate. "Really? What?"

"I have a promise that I need to uphold to Scotty. I said that I would finish a round in the ring with him." He turned to Vanessa and stared walking towards her. "I have you to thank for my new knowledge in fighting." He leaned on the tree.

"It was nothing." She didn't like that he was so close though. He always seemed to know how to get her on edge. She was even more on edge now that he had seen her cry. "Anything to beat up some armatures that think that they know it all." She smirked and then looked at Seth. He had a definite readable grin on his face. "Don't you dare think that. I am in no way going to do it, I'm not caving."

"Caving?" Nate looked between the two people.

"No, she doesn't mean caving. She means something else but she doesn't want to say it out loud." That hit a nerve in Vanessa's body. She didn't like what he was saying. She knew that he had told them, but they didn't know that. She knew more of what they had said than they realize she does. They thought that she was asleep for most of it.

"I don't know what you are talking about. I meant what I said and I said what I meant. I mean it too." She got up and started to climb the tree. She was used to climbing on things so trees wouldn't be that different or difficult. She got to where the tree almost made contact to the roof of her house and she jumped. She didn't have to jump far, only a foot or two. When she landed, she went to the balcony of her room. "I'm going to get my things ready." She giggled to herself. Their expressions were priceless. They had watched her just go from the back yard to the roof near her bedroom balcony and she had no trouble doing it. It had seemed that she had done this before, practiced even. She packed up her things and then put the bag on her back. She looked down at the yard and they were going inside. She went down stairs and smiled at them. She got in Seth's truck and then realized where she was going. Back to that retched and terrible place filled with obnoxious people. Her smile turned into a frown as she watched Seth get into the driver's seat. "Do we have to go?" Despite Nate seeing her like that, she still didn't want to face those people. She didn't like them and so she didn't want to see them.

Seth rolled his eyes and sighed, "Yes."

"Please." She whined. She knew that it didn't help her situation but she had to try.

"Ok."

"Really?" She was shocked. "Did he really just say that I don't have to go?" She thought.

"No. You're going to school wither you like it or not." She rolled her eyes and folded her arms.

"Vanessa?"

"What?" The truck started and they were pulling out of the drive way.

"Well, I was wondering, Is it just the people that you don't like at the school?"

"Yes, it is."

"Well, you could try to ignore them." She heard Seth chuckle.

"Her? Ignore people? She ignores them alright. Then, for taking her time away from her life, she beats them for it. It's happened on more than one occasion." Seth laughed.

Vanessa thought of her last school. She was only there for 2 days. The first was her minding her own business and ignoring everyone. She just sat in her classes and drew. The second day, on the other hand, multiple people had wanted to go up to her but she ignored them and all of the people that went up to her that day, were beaten and bruised. There were even a few teachers that felt her wrath. She smirked at the thought.

Then she thought of the first school change. She had made it rough on her mother. She beat two guys that were hitting on her to near death and the principal told my mother that I needed help, that I was a disturbed child. I knew that it wasn't easy on my mother. She took me out of that school and put me in a private school. That was the last time that she would do that, Vanessa managed to screw up all of the teachers mentally and unless she left, they would quit their jobs. She wasn't put back into a school for about a month. She liked it, all alone and no idiot to bother her. She spent most of that month at the mountain. Seth had visited her every day. He had convinced her to come back and that's when they had started to date. She needed something to stay the same. She thought that dating him would make him stay and she liked it that way. It was when they had moved the second time that she almost disappeared. She broke it off with Seth. Her excuse was that she didn't feel the same way anymore. He still stayed though. She was grateful for that. Even not being together, he still was there for her. She heard Seth talking and Nate talking to each other but she was too caught up in her thoughts to actually hear what they were saying.

They soon arrived at the school and Vanessa didn't hesitate to get out of the truck. Nate on the other hand, hadn't gotten out until she was out of sight. She didn't care though. She knew that they both mentally agreed that they didn't want anyone to see them in the same truck at the same time because that would start talk and she knew that it wouldn't last long before it turned into questions being asked. Questions asked means that her patience would be tested and that would mean people would get hurt.

She quickly went into her first hour and started to draw. She looked up as the bell rang and Nate walked in. The girls were all around him and she rolled her eyes. "If they knew what he felt, they wouldn't act like this." She knew that they might, but she shook the thought off. She knew that she had to have some feelings right? She wouldn't have offered training If she hadn't. She wouldn't have cried in his arms if she didn't, right? She put her head down now knowing why Seth had said that she had feelings for this guy. She started to draw and felt Nate sit down. There were still girls around him and she didn't like it. Not because they were around him, she didn't care about that, but because they were around her. She didn't like how close they were and there were so many of them. She could just end it right there. Why hadn't she already? "Well that's obvious, I already concluded that." She looked up as the bell for class to begin. The girls left and she was grateful. Nate turned and gave her three pictures. They were the ones that she had given him the night before. "Thanks."

"I remembered." He smiled and Vanessa put the drawings in her folder to keep them safe. "So, I was talking to Seth and."

She stopped him right there. "No, I won't." She knew where this was going and she decided that if he were to ask her then she would say no. She decided that she wasn't ready yet.

"Why not?"

"I said it earlier. I'm not going to do it. I don't care how you or Seth feel. It's not true." She knew that he was going to say something about getting together. She didn't want it. Or at least, she thought that she didn't want to. Lots of things were confusing to her now in days. She didn't like it either. Not many things were confusing up to this point. Everything was black and white, straight forward and to the point. She never cared for anyone and she beat most of them up. She switched from school to school and got kicked out. She had no care in the world. But now, now it was different. She didn't know why. This time was like all of the others right? She looked up. Nate had turned around and was listening to the teacher. The girls were still staring, and Cassandra was still pouting. She still took the occasional glance at Nate and an occasional death stare at Vanessa.

She looked back at her drawing. She didn't normally concentrate on drawing, her hand just moved across the page. It was like a seconded nature to her. She didn't know what she was drawing until she looked down. She frowned when she saw it. It was a girl, in the arms of an Angel and she was crying. "NO!" She thought to herself. "I am not the victim here." She looked down at the drawing again. It had the outline of Nate's hair, of his eyes, and face. It was definitely him that was the Angel in this. She felt like that little girl in his arms. She crumbled up the paper and put it in her bag. She then started to draw again. This time, she knew what to draw. Nate had watched her and she didn't know when he started to either. Even though most of the time when she drew she didn't really concentrate much, when she did concentrate on the drawing, it was even better than the other ones. It was a drawing of a pair of angel wings, nothing more except the words "Guardian Angel" in big, bold, fancy lettering.

"Wow."

She looked up and saw Nate's smiling face. "What?"

"That drawing, I haven't seen you draw something like that. Usually you draw people."

"Yeah, I just thought to draw this." Being truly honest, she drew people when she was zoned out. It was only when she was thinking about what her drawing was that it wasn't a person. She went back to drawing, not knowing what to say. She hated that he did that to her.

"Ok, I know that I have some things going on today, and so do you, but I was thinking."

"I already told you no."

"No, not that, I was wondering if tomorrow, we could train some more."

She became confused. She thought that he was coming on to her again. She didn't like when he was on to her and it made her feel weak. Then the word training came to her mind. Training would be nice. She liked training and it was one of the only things that would sooth her. "Sure. Training. Tomorrow. You know where and I will stand no talking." The implied "or else" was there.

"Ok. I'm ok with that." He then turned and refocused on what Mr. Sy was saying. Vanessa glanced at Cassandra. She was scolding at her. She smirked to herself as she continued to draw. When the class ended, she walked to her second hour. She didn't go in immediately but stood outside the classroom. The bell rang and she reluctantly went into the room. It was boring as always. People had learned not to mess with her. She had yet to be violent but got in lots of shouting matches in that class and she had almost beat up a few people too. When the bell rang, she slowly made it to her third hour. She went in and tried to listen to the lesson. She found it very easy to follow and realized even more that that class was full of idiots. This was easy stuff. They wouldn't wrap their heads around the junk that the teacher was teaching.

She still ignored most of the class, except for the teacher. She put her things away at the end of the class and the teacher called her up. Vanessa rolled her eyes and went to her. "Vanessa. You have been in my class now for four days. I understand that you're new and everything but I have noticed that in those four days that you have yet to participate in the class activities. I have heard of your past and so what I'm wondering is: why did you change? You listened to my lesson and I could tell that you understood all of it. What made your attitude change?"

Vanessa stood there for a minute contemplating on how she should phrase it. "I have decided that I better get used to it here. I'm sure that I'm going to be here for a while and I might as well get used to it. I still don't like it here but I might as well try." She saw the smile on the teachers face. "But don't hope on me being here when Monday comes. If I so happen to come to come back after this week, don't you dare and place me next to someone. I don't like people, and if I do come back it's not for them." She watched as the teacher listened to her.

"I understand what you are saying. I promise that you will be left alone if you choose to come back." The teacher smiled and then turned to her desk and sat down. "You are dismissed."

Vanessa went out of the class room and hurried off to the parking lot. Seth was waiting and she knew that he would say something about her being late. He got into the truck and looked in the rear view mirror. Seth looked over to her and smiled. Vanessa saw Nate looking out his window and looked to be in deep thought. "I don't want to talk about it." She said looking at Seth. He turned the truck on and they left. When they arrived at her place, she got out of the truck. She didn't hurry in like she did yesterday but it didn't look like she was up to talking. It was a mask that she put on. When she didn't want people to talk to her, she would have a face and no one dared to talk to her. She had that face excretion on right now. She walked in her house, slightly before the others and flopped on her couch. She didn't look at the two behind her and she watched as the TV came on. She dozed off for a few minutes. That's what it felt like at least.

It was now 30 min. after she came home. She looked around and saw Nate at the entrance of her kitchen facing into the kitchen talking to Seth. He didn't seem to notice that she was awake and she slipped away to her room as quietly as possible. She opened and closed the door without making any noise. She let out a breath and she looked at her desk. It had her bag and things on the floor next to it and she went over and looked through it. She found no disturbances in her bag and then put it back in its place. She went out to her balcony and sat on the railings for a bit. She heard her bedroom door open but she didn't turn around.

Nate stood beside where she was and leaned on the railing. "Hey."

"Hey." She still didn't know what to say to him. It felt nice to have him around though.

They stood in silence for a bit and then Nate spoke again. "How was your sleep?"

"It was alright, it didn't feel like much though. It didn't seem as relaxing as I thought. I came up here instead." She looked at him and patted the railing as for gesturing for him to sit there. He seemed to take the gesture and sat on the raining next to Vanessa. "Why is it that you do this?"

"Do what?"

She felt her heart start to pound in her chest. "This. Make me feel like I'm going to faint, make my thoughts disappear? I'm an opinionated person with many thoughts, even though I don't share them much, and you make my thoughts disappear and so I don't know what to say when you're around." She wasn't looking at him when she said that. She had been watching the mountains not too far from where she sat. She found them beautiful as the sun reflected off of them. They were full of tall, green trees and there were no houses on them. They were undisturbed and she liked it that way. She thought that all nature should be like that, undisturbed.

There was silence and Vanessa didn't like it. She had asked him a question and he had yet to answer. She saw out of the corner of her eye that he was in deep thought. She looked back at the mountains and then heard him make a noise. She turned to him and they were looking into each other's eyes. A million thoughts were in his head and she couldn't read any of them. She was too distracted with her own thoughts racing through her mind that she couldn't read either. The look in his eyes dared her to look away.

He looked like he was about to say something but before she could yell at him for not answering her, he put his hand under her chin and he kissed her. She didn't know what to do. It ended almost as soon as it started. She turned her head and whipped her mouth. "I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself." She heard him say. It sounded nervous and as if he had a slight stutter. She couldn't blame him though. If she spoke, it would have sounded the same way.

Again, she heard her door open but this time. She knew who it was but she still looked. It was the thing that snapped her back into reality. She looked and saw Seth walk in. He seemed to notice that there was something off in the atmosphere and looked between the two. She looked at Nate. He was again in deep thought and slight embarrassment. Seth walked up to the other side of Vanessa. It was silent for another minute. It was Seth that broke the silence. "It's time to be leaving."

Vanessa looked at him and then at Nate. He had a slight blush and then he got off the railing. She followed and then Seth did too. She knew that he left the choice up to her, to make a move or not to. There was no way around it. He wouldn't say another word as they road to the school. She didn't know how to feel. All she could do was think of the moment from when he walked in her room to the moment Seth did. Seth seemed to know that he walked in on something. He didn't know what, but he knew it was something. The whole ride to school had a different vibe in the silence. When they arrived, Vanessa didn't hesitate to get out and Nate followed shortly after. He wasn't walking as fast as Vanessa and she was grateful for that. She needed time; time to think of what her next action would be.

She didn't pay attention to any of the classes that she had for the rest of the day. She tried but the topic became boring quickly and she went to drawing. She drew Nate and her multiple times. One was of them walking and holding hands, some were of them sitting next to each other on her balcony, the rest were just of Nate. She crumpled all of them and put them in her bag. When walking to the parking lot, she saw Seth pull up and she got in. She was surprised that Nate wasn't in the back but she remembered that he had things to do and she also had things to do. She remembered the panic when Eric had come into the training grounds and Seth had pointed out that he still had wings. She had fallen asleep during the long ride there after they went to her house to get her training gear. When they had parked, Seth shook Vanessa awake and she got out of the truck. She was pleased that Eric was already there. "Vanessa!" He ran up to her and gave her a hug. He smiled up at her and she smiled back.

"Hey, Eric. How's it going? Have you been training hard without me?"

"Yep." He replied joyfully. She hoped that this training session would relieve her mind of the thoughts about Nate. They got the training gear out and ready. She took off her necklace and let her wings out. Man it felt good to let her wings out. She stretched them and then started to fly. Seth did the same. They didn't bother putting on harnesses and they started their warm up. Vanessa came in first, reaching an all new personal record of 8 minutes. Next was Seth who chimed in at his usual 12 minutes, and lastly was Eric. He finished as he reached a new best of 15 minutes. It made Vanessa feel good that not only had he accomplished a new goal but she had also. They went to the simulator and changed the climate that was cold and dry. The gravity had also changed to 20x Earth's gravity. They trained and played rounds of dodge ball.

It was now dark outside and Vanessa saw Eric was trying hard to keep his eyes open. She too was feeling a bit drowsy and called it quits for the night. She told Eric that Seth will come back for him and she and Seth left. They had put their necklaces on before they left. She had fallen asleep again and before she knew it, she was home. Seth didn't bother going into her garage and he stopped in front of her house. "Vanessa. I'm stopping here. Wake up." She opened her eyes and saw that they were outside of her house. "Hey, you're here."

She nodded and opened the door. She got her stuff and went to her door. When she arrived, she saw a small black box with a white bow tied around it. She picked it up and went inside. She put her stuff down at the door, after she closed it and looked at the small box in her hand. It didn't have anything written on it but she knew who it was from. She went to her room and on to her balcony. She slowly opened it and saw a few small drawings of Angel wings. Underneath that, it had a note. **"Hey, can I draw Angel wings now?"** She smiled at the note. He had improved his skills and it impressed her. She then looked at what was beneath the note. It was a necklace. It was angel wings with a Sapphire in the middle, between the two wings. She admired it and then put it back in the box along with the other things. She was happy, truly happy. She went to her bed and looked at the time. It was only 9:30. She looked at the phone in her room. "Maybe I should call him." She thought. She walked over to the phone and picked it up. As if on cue, it started to ring. She didn't bother to see who it was and she answered it. "Hello?"

"Um, Hi. Vanessa, did you get the package?"

She thought it laughable. "Yeah, how did you know that I was home?"

"Well, it's dark, it's late, and I just thought that you were home." She thought the situation hysterical. She, just about to call him, answered the phone, to who other than the one she wanted to call.

"Well, I just got home." She was nervous but didn't know why. "It could have been because of that kiss." She thought to herself. "I do agree that you have made improvements on the realism of the wings"

"Ha, yeah, thanks." He too sounded nervous. She didn't know what to say. They were both silent and still on the phone. "So, Vanessa, I know that you don't' like this and all, but." He stopped and she thought about her answer. She had now admitted to herself that she had feelings and she knew that he did too.

"Yes."

"What?"

"Yes, I'll try this. I don't know where it will lead but, I'm willing to try. "She would admit that she was nervous, but only in her mind, she wouldn't say it out load to anyone else.

"Why does he do this? How did he do this? I am a person that doesn't have a loving heart, why am I feeling like this?" She thought of the first day that they met. She knew that he was different from the others but didn't know why. She saw him as just another pretty boy that thought that he owned the world. Instead, he was a nice and generous guy that could relate to her problems. When she first looked into his eyes… "That's it!" She thought to herself. That was when he peeled off layer by layer until he found her, the real her, the one that had convinced herself that she had no feelings and had a hardened heart. She figured it was when she cried in his arms that he found her. Then he began to melt her heart. Her heart was heated and it was at the time of that kiss that, what was once ice had now turned into steam. She looked back at the phone as if it were a pot of lava. She went and sat on her balcony floor leaning against the railing looking into her room. It was dark and the only light was from the street light from behind her. She looked around and grabbed the box from the table that she sat next to. She pulled out the necklace. She wanted to wear it. If only it too had the spell that her Angel necklace did. When her mother decides to come back, she would ask her to put the spell on this necklace. She would have the Angel necklace made into a bracelet. She smiled. Her life was going to chance, for the better. She got up and went to her bed. She lay there thinking about tomorrow, the next day, and the next day. What her future will have.

Chapter 7 (Vanessa's view)

Vanessa woke up and was just lying on the couch. She thought about much of what had happened the day before. She looked over and saw a note on the table next to her. "Ugh, I wish that she told me these things herself, in person. Enough notes already, I need to see her. I need to ask where she is, or has been. I can't stand it anymore." She picked the note up and saw that it was indeed her mother's note... **"I saw that you were sound asleep so I didn't want to wake you. I made Nate's breakfast and you a little something too. I know that you feel weak but I know that you're strong. Nate's a good person and he wouldn't take you for granted. When I come home, I will bring a surprise home with me. I love you, and I thank you for still going to school, even though I'm not there to make it so."** Vanessa flipped it over, making sure that she didn't miss anything like last time. There was nothing. She sat there in silence for a bit. It was earlier than she got up and Seth should be getting here soon. Vanessa heard a truck pull in to her garage and she walked to it. She saw Seth get out and Nate's head out from the corner of her eye. "Is there any reason that you had to bring him along?" She didn't like him here when she didn't know that it was going to happen.

"I'm sorry, he asked me to pick him up." He said in an annoyed voice, then he said in a mocking way, "Said that he didn't want to be ambushed by girls."

Vanessa rolled her eyes and turned around, not even looking at Nate. She wasn't ignoring him, she just didn't want to talk to him, and she didn't know what to say. She held the door open for them. As they went through, she noticed that Seth glanced at her. She knew what he was thinking, and she caught a smile on Nate's face as he passed. She turned when they were both inside and she went to the kitchen. "Seth, my mother made us some food for breakfast. If you're hungry, come and eat." She pulled out a tray full of food and Seth walked in.

"What do you mean if?" He grabbed his tray of food and went back to the living room.

"That's just like him," She thought. "He's always hungry." She got her plate of food and went to the living room. The TV was on and it was a recorded baseball game. Nate and Seth were talking about the game and didn't seem to notice as she walked past them and on to the couch. The couch was perpendicular to the loveseat. Seth was on the love seat and Nate was on the couch. Vanessa sat on the opposite side of the couch and watched the game. She wasn't really into these types of sports but it was clear that this sport is what the two guys in the room bonded over. She started to eat her breakfast and when she was done, she stood up and went back into the kitchen. She could hear the game loud and clear, even in the other room. She was glad that this house was sound proof, otherwise, the neighbors would complain about the noise a whole lot. When she went back into the living room, she noticed the time. "It's only 4:45? Really? She watched the game a bit more and enjoyed watching the two's reaction to the game. She knew all about the game of baseball but had never seemed to enjoy it as they did.

Vanessa realized that it was now 5:15 and she went to her room to get ready. She took a shower and put on new clothes. She had a towel around her back because her hair was still soaked and she went down to get a drink. The game was over and neither of the two was in the room. When she walked into the kitchen, she became even more confused than she already was. They weren't in there either. She heard running in the back yard and she opened the door. She saw them running and wrestling and all of that. She didn't believe it. They were acting like they had known each other forever. She went outside and it was just sunrise. The bright red and yellow still filled the sky. It was cloudy but that only intensified the colors. "I see the two of you are having fun."

They stopped and turned to her. They both smiled. She had a genuine smile on her face. It was the first time that Nate had truly seen it and Seth hadn't seen it in a long while. She Walked forward and sat on a tire swing. It was old but still sturdy. It hangs from a tall and sturdy branch in the tall tree. "What's got you so happy this morning?" She turned to Seth. She knew he was thinking that she was out of character today.

"I don't know. Any who, sorry Nate, but I can't train with you today. I promised Nate's brother Eric that I would train him today." She watched him unfazed. He didn't seem to be upset by this news.

"It's alright. I understand. I have some things to do today anyway."

Seth tilted his head at Nate. "Really? What?"

"I have a promise that I need to uphold to Scotty. I said that I would finish a round in the ring with him." He turned to Vanessa and stared walking towards her. "I have you to thank for my new knowledge in fighting." He leaned on the tree.

"It was nothing." She didn't like that he was so close though. He always seemed to know how to get her on edge. She was even more on edge now that he had seen her cry. "Anything to beat up some armatures that think that they know it all." She smirked and then looked at Seth. He had a definite readable grin on his face. "Don't you dare think that. I am in no way going to do it, I'm not caving."

"Caving?" Nate looked between the two people.

"No, she doesn't mean caving. She means something else but she doesn't want to say it out loud." That hit a nerve in Vanessa's body. She didn't like what he was saying. She knew that he had told them, but they didn't know that. She knew more of what they had said than they realize she does. They thought that she was asleep for most of it.

"I don't know what you are talking about. I meant what I said and I said what I meant. I mean it too." She got up and started to climb the tree. She was used to climbing on things so trees wouldn't be that different or difficult. She got to where the tree almost made contact to the roof of her house and she jumped. She didn't have to jump far, only a foot or two. When she landed, she went to the balcony of her room. "I'm going to get my things ready." She giggled to herself. Their expressions were priceless. They had watched her just go from the back yard to the roof near her bedroom balcony and she had no trouble doing it. It had seemed that she had done this before, practiced even. She packed up her things and then put the bag on her back. She looked down at the yard and they were going inside. She went down stairs and smiled at them. She got in Seth's truck and then realized where she was going. Back to that retched and terrible place filled with obnoxious people. Her smile turned into a frown as she watched Seth get into the driver's seat. "Do we have to go?" Despite Nate seeing her like that, she still didn't want to face those people. She didn't like them and so she didn't want to see them.

Seth rolled his eyes and sighed, "Yes."

"Please." She whined. She knew that it didn't help her situation but she had to try.

"Ok."

"Really?" She was shocked. "Did he really just say that I don't have to go?" She thought.

"No. You're going to school wither you like it or not." She rolled her eyes and folded her arms.

"Vanessa?"

"What?" The truck started and they were pulling out of the drive way.

"Well, I was wondering, Is it just the people that you don't like at the school?"

"Yes, it is."

"Well, you could try to ignore them." She heard Seth chuckle.

"Her? Ignore people? She ignores them alright. Then, for taking her time away from her life, she beats them for it. It's happened on more than one occasion." Seth laughed.

Vanessa thought of her last school. She was only there for 2 days. The first was her minding her own business and ignoring everyone. She just sat in her classes and drew. The second day, on the other hand, multiple people had wanted to go up to her but she ignored them and all of the people that went up to her that day, were beaten and bruised. There were even a few teachers that felt her wrath. She smirked at the thought.

Then she thought of the first school change. She had made it rough on her mother. She beat two guys that were hitting on her to near death and the principal told my mother that I needed help, that I was a disturbed child. I knew that it wasn't easy on my mother. She took me out of that school and put me in a private school. That was the last time that she would do that, Vanessa managed to screw up all of the teachers mentally and unless she left, they would quit their jobs. She wasn't put back into a school for about a month. She liked it, all alone and no idiot to bother her. She spent most of that month at the mountain. Seth had visited her every day. He had convinced her to come back and that's when they had started to date. She needed something to stay the same. She thought that dating him would make him stay and she liked it that way. It was when they had moved the second time that she almost disappeared. She broke it off with Seth. Her excuse was that she didn't feel the same way anymore. He still stayed though. She was grateful for that. Even not being together, he still was there for her. She heard Seth talking and Nate talking to each other but she was too caught up in her thoughts to actually hear what they were saying.

They soon arrived at the school and Vanessa didn't hesitate to get out of the truck. Nate on the other hand, hadn't gotten out until she was out of sight. She didn't care though. She knew that they both mentally agreed that they didn't want anyone to see them in the same truck at the same time because that would start talk and she knew that it wouldn't last long before it turned into questions being asked. Questions asked means that her patience would be tested and that would mean people would get hurt.

She quickly went into her first hour and started to draw. She looked up as the bell rang and Nate walked in. The girls were all around him and she rolled her eyes. "If they knew what he felt, they wouldn't act like this." She knew that they might, but she shook the thought off. She knew that she had to have some feelings right? She wouldn't have offered training If she hadn't. She wouldn't have cried in his arms if she didn't, right? She put her head down now knowing why Seth had said that she had feelings for this guy. She started to draw and felt Nate sit down. There were still girls around him and she didn't like it. Not because they were around him, she didn't care about that, but because they were around her. She didn't like how close they were and there were so many of them. She could just end it right there. Why hadn't she already? "Well that's obvious, I already concluded that." She looked up as the bell for class to begin. The girls left and she was grateful. Nate turned and gave her three pictures. They were the ones that she had given him the night before. "Thanks."

"I remembered." He smiled and Vanessa put the drawings in her folder to keep them safe. "So, I was talking to Seth and."

She stopped him right there. "No, I won't." She knew where this was going and she decided that if he were to ask her then she would say no. She decided that she wasn't ready yet.

"Why not?"

"I said it earlier. I'm not going to do it. I don't care how you or Seth feel. It's not true." She knew that he was going to say something about getting together. She didn't want it. Or at least, she thought that she didn't want to. Lots of things were confusing to her now in days. She didn't like it either. Not many things were confusing up to this point. Everything was black and white, straight forward and to the point. She never cared for anyone and she beat most of them up. She switched from school to school and got kicked out. She had no care in the world. But now, now it was different. She didn't know why. This time was like all of the others right? She looked up. Nate had turned around and was listening to the teacher. The girls were still staring, and Cassandra was still pouting. She still took the occasional glance at Nate and an occasional death stare at Vanessa.

She looked back at her drawing. She didn't normally concentrate on drawing, her hand just moved across the page. It was like a seconded nature to her. She didn't know what she was drawing until she looked down. She frowned when she saw it. It was a girl, in the arms of an Angel and she was crying. "NO!" She thought to herself. "I am not the victim here." She looked down at the drawing again. It had the outline of Nate's hair, of his eyes, and face. It was definitely him that was the Angel in this. She felt like that little girl in his arms. She crumbled up the paper and put it in her bag. She then started to draw again. This time, she knew what to draw. Nate had watched her and she didn't know when he started to either. Even though most of the time when she drew she didn't really concentrate much, when she did concentrate on the drawing, it was even better than the other ones. It was a drawing of a pair of angel wings, nothing more except the words "Guardian Angel" in big, bold, fancy lettering.

"Wow."

She looked up and saw Nate's smiling face. "What?"

"That drawing, I haven't seen you draw something like that. Usually you draw people."

"Yeah, I just thought to draw this." Being truly honest, she drew people when she was zoned out. It was only when she was thinking about what her drawing was that it wasn't a person. She went back to drawing, not knowing what to say. She hated that he did that to her.

"Ok, I know that I have some things going on today, and so do you, but I was thinking."

"I already told you no."

"No, not that, I was wondering if tomorrow, we could train some more."

She became confused. She thought that he was coming on to her again. She didn't like when he was on to her and it made her feel weak. Then the word training came to her mind. Training would be nice. She liked training and it was one of the only things that would sooth her. "Sure. Training. Tomorrow. You know where and I will stand no talking." The implied "or else" was there.

"Ok. I'm ok with that." He then turned and refocused on what Mr. Sy was saying. Vanessa glanced at Cassandra. She was scolding at her. She smirked to herself as she continued to draw. When the class ended, she walked to her second hour. She didn't go in immediately but stood outside the classroom. The bell rang and she reluctantly went into the room. It was boring as always. People had learned not to mess with her. She had yet to be violent but got in lots of shouting matches in that class and she had almost beat up a few people too. When the bell rang, she slowly made it to her third hour. She went in and tried to listen to the lesson. She found it very easy to follow and realized even more that that class was full of idiots. This was easy stuff. They wouldn't wrap their heads around the junk that the teacher was teaching.

She still ignored most of the class, except for the teacher. She put her things away at the end of the class and the teacher called her up. Vanessa rolled her eyes and went to her. "Vanessa. You have been in my class now for four days. I understand that you're new and everything but I have noticed that in those four days that you have yet to participate in the class activities. I have heard of your past and so what I'm wondering is: why did you change? You listened to my lesson and I could tell that you understood all of it. What made your attitude change?"

Vanessa stood there for a minute contemplating on how she should phrase it. "I have decided that I better get used to it here. I'm sure that I'm going to be here for a while and I might as well get used to it. I still don't like it here but I might as well try." She saw the smile on the teachers face. "But don't hope on me being here when Monday comes. If I so happen to come to come back after this week, don't you dare and place me next to someone. I don't like people, and if I do come back it's not for them." She watched as the teacher listened to her.

"I understand what you are saying. I promise that you will be left alone if you choose to come back." The teacher smiled and then turned to her desk and sat down. "You are dismissed."

Vanessa went out of the class room and hurried off to the parking lot. Seth was waiting and she knew that he would say something about her being late. He got into the truck and looked in the rear view mirror. Seth looked over to her and smiled. Vanessa saw Nate looking out his window and looked to be in deep thought. "I don't want to talk about it." She said looking at Seth. He turned the truck on and they left. When they arrived at her place, she got out of the truck. She didn't hurry in like she did yesterday but it didn't look like she was up to talking. It was a mask that she put on. When she didn't want people to talk to her, she would have a face and no one dared to talk to her. She had that face excretion on right now. She walked in her house, slightly before the others and flopped on her couch. She didn't look at the two behind her and she watched as the TV came on. She dozed off for a few minutes. That's what it felt like at least.

It was now 30 min. after she came home. She looked around and saw Nate at the entrance of her kitchen facing into the kitchen talking to Seth. He didn't seem to notice that she was awake and she slipped away to her room as quietly as possible. She opened and closed the door without making any noise. She let out a breath and she looked at her desk. It had her bag and things on the floor next to it and she went over and looked through it. She found no disturbances in her bag and then put it back in its place. She went out to her balcony and sat on the railings for a bit. She heard her bedroom door open but she didn't turn around.

Nate stood beside where she was and leaned on the railing. "Hey."

"Hey." She still didn't know what to say to him. It felt nice to have him around though.

They stood in silence for a bit and then Nate spoke again. "How was your sleep?"

"It was alright, it didn't feel like much though. It didn't seem as relaxing as I thought. I came up here instead." She looked at him and patted the railing as for gesturing for him to sit there. He seemed to take the gesture and sat on the raining next to Vanessa. "Why is it that you do this?"

"Do what?"

She felt her heart start to pound in her chest. "This. Make me feel like I'm going to faint, make my thoughts disappear? I'm an opinionated person with many thoughts, even though I don't share them much, and you make my thoughts disappear and so I don't know what to say when you're around." She wasn't looking at him when she said that. She had been watching the mountains not too far from where she sat. She found them beautiful as the sun reflected off of them. They were full of tall, green trees and there were no houses on them. They were undisturbed and she liked it that way. She thought that all nature should be like that, undisturbed.

There was silence and Vanessa didn't like it. She had asked him a question and he had yet to answer. She saw out of the corner of her eye that he was in deep thought. She looked back at the mountains and then heard him make a noise. She turned to him and they were looking into each other's eyes. A million thoughts were in his head and she couldn't read any of them. She was too distracted with her own thoughts racing through her mind that she couldn't read either. The look in his eyes dared her to look away.

He looked like he was about to say something but before she could yell at him for not answering her, he put his hand under her chin and he kissed her. She didn't know what to do. It ended almost as soon as it started. She turned her head and whipped her mouth. "I'm sorry. I couldn't help myself." She heard him say. It sounded nervous and as if he had a slight stutter. She couldn't blame him though. If she spoke, it would have sounded the same way.

Again, she heard her door open but this time. She knew who it was but she still looked. It was the thing that snapped her back into reality. She looked and saw Seth walk in. He seemed to notice that there was something off in the atmosphere and looked between the two. She looked at Nate. He was again in deep thought and slight embarrassment. Seth walked up to the other side of Vanessa. It was silent for another minute. It was Seth that broke the silence. "It's time to be leaving."

Vanessa looked at him and then at Nate. He had a slight blush and then he got off the railing. She followed and then Seth did too. She knew that he left the choice up to her, to make a move or not to. There was no way around it. He wouldn't say another word as they road to the school. She didn't know how to feel. All she could do was think of the moment from when he walked in her room to the moment Seth did. Seth seemed to know that he walked in on something. He didn't know what, but he knew it was something. The whole ride to school had a different vibe in the silence. When they arrived, Vanessa didn't hesitate to get out and Nate followed shortly after. He wasn't walking as fast as Vanessa and she was grateful for that. She needed time; time to think of what her next action would be.

She didn't pay attention to any of the classes that she had for the rest of the day. She tried but the topic became boring quickly and she went to drawing. She drew Nate and her multiple times. One was of them walking and holding hands, some were of them sitting next to each other on her balcony, the rest were just of Nate. She crumpled all of them and put them in her bag. When walking to the parking lot, she saw Seth pull up and she got in. She was surprised that Nate wasn't in the back but she remembered that he had things to do and she also had things to do. She remembered the panic when Eric had come into the training grounds and Seth had pointed out that he still had wings. She had fallen asleep during the long ride there after they went to her house to get her training gear. When they had parked, Seth shook Vanessa awake and she got out of the truck. She was pleased that Eric was already there. "Vanessa!" He ran up to her and gave her a hug. He smiled up at her and she smiled back.

"Hey, Eric. How's it going? Have you been training hard without me?"

"Yep." He replied joyfully. She hoped that this training session would relieve her mind of the thoughts about Nate. They got the training gear out and ready. She took off her necklace and let her wings out. Man it felt good to let her wings out. She stretched them and then started to fly. Seth did the same. They didn't bother putting on harnesses and they started their warm up. Vanessa came in first, reaching an all new personal record of 8 minutes. Next was Seth who chimed in at his usual 12 minutes, and lastly was Eric. He finished as he reached a new best of 15 minutes. It made Vanessa feel good that not only had he accomplished a new goal but she had also. They went to the simulator and changed the climate that was cold and dry. The gravity had also changed to 20x Earth's gravity. They trained and played rounds of dodge ball.

It was now dark outside and Vanessa saw Eric was trying hard to keep his eyes open. She too was feeling a bit drowsy and called it quits for the night. She told Eric that Seth will come back for him and she and Seth left. They had put their necklaces on before they left. She had fallen asleep again and before she knew it, she was home. Seth didn't bother going into her garage and he stopped in front of her house. "Vanessa. I'm stopping here. Wake up." She opened her eyes and saw that they were outside of her house. "Hey, you're here."

She nodded and opened the door. She got her stuff and went to her door. When she arrived, she saw a small black box with a white bow tied around it. She picked it up and went inside. She put her stuff down at the door, after she closed it and looked at the small box in her hand. It didn't have anything written on it but she knew who it was from. She went to her room and on to her balcony. She slowly opened it and saw a few small drawings of Angel wings. Underneath that, it had a note. **"Hey, can I draw Angel wings now?"** She smiled at the note. He had improved his skills and it impressed her. She then looked at what was beneath the note. It was a necklace. It was angel wings with a Sapphire in the middle, between the two wings. She admired it and then put it back in the box along with the other things. She was happy, truly happy. She went to her bed and looked at the time. It was only 9:30. She looked at the phone in her room. "Maybe I should call him." She thought. She walked over to the phone and picked it up. As if on cue, it started to ring. She didn't bother to see who it was and she answered it. "Hello?"

"Um, Hi. Vanessa, did you get the package?"

She thought it laughable. "Yeah, how did you know that I was home?"

"Well, it's dark, it's late, and I just thought that you were home." She thought the situation hysterical. She, just about to call him, answered the phone, to who other than the one she wanted to call.

"Well, I just got home." She was nervous but didn't know why. "It could have been because of that kiss." She thought to herself. "I do agree that you have made improvements on the realism of the wings"

"Ha, yeah, thanks." He too sounded nervous. She didn't know what to say. They were both silent and still on the phone. "So, Vanessa, I know that you don't' like this and all, but." He stopped and she thought about her answer. She had now admitted to herself that she had feelings and she knew that he did too.

"Yes."

"What?"

"Yes, I'll try this. I don't know where it will lead but, I'm willing to try. "She would admit that she was nervous, but only in her mind, she wouldn't say it out load to anyone else.

"Why does he do this? How did he do this? I am a person that doesn't have a loving heart, why am I feeling like this?" She thought of the first day that they met. She knew that he was different from the others but didn't know why. She saw him as just another pretty boy that thought that he owned the world. Instead, he was a nice and generous guy that could relate to her problems. When she first looked into his eyes… "That's it!" She thought to herself. That was when he peeled off layer by layer until he found her, the real her, the one that hated feelings and had a hardened heart. She figured it was when she cried in his arms that he found her. Then he began to melt her heart. Her heart was heated and it was at the time of that kiss that, what was once ice had now turned into steam. She looked back at the phone as if it were a pot of lava. She went and sat on her balcony floor leaning against the railing looking into her room. It was dark and the only light was from the street light from behind her. She looked around and grabbed the box from the table that she sat next to. She pulled out the necklace. She wanted to wear it. If only it too had the spell that her Angel necklace did. When her mother decides to come back, she would ask her to put the spell on this necklace. She would have the Angel necklace made into a bracelet. She smiled. Her life was going to chance, for the better. She got up and went to her bed. She lay there thinking about tomorrow, the next day, and the next day. What her future will have.

**Has Vanessa really broken? She took the plunge and will stick to it as long as she can. How long will that be? Review... **


	8. Nate's view Day 4

Chapter 8 (Nate's view)

Nate was laying the couch. He had been up for hours and couldn't stop thinking of what Veronica had said to him. He looked over at the clock. 3:30 am. It wasn't for another hour that Seth would come over and pick him up for school. He decided that it was time that he should get ready. He went up to his room and got ready for the new day. The thought that he would make a move on Vanessa intimidated him a bit. He had never been this nervous asking anyone out before. When he came down from his room, he went to the kitchen and got some breakfast. It wasn't long after he had finished that Nate drove in his garage. He went and opened the door so that he could come in.

"Hey, I see that there's no girls out there yet." Nate chuckled and looked at the clock. 4:15.

"You're early. You said that you'd be here at 4:30." They walked in to the living room and sat down.

"I know. I'm always a little early. I can't stand being late. I think it's rude."

"Yeah, I guess that you're right. I'm never late myself, but I think that some people can't help it. So, Seth, Why do you wake up so early?"

"I'm a morning person. I get up easily but I don't get to bed as easy. I lay in bed for hours sometimes because I can't sleep. I'm not like Vanessa, who likes to sleep all the time. I like to be up; sleeping means that you miss things, sometimes important things." Nate had never thought of it that way. Now that he thought about it, you would miss a lot if you slept the entire day.

"Is there anything that I need to know before today?"

"Why do you ask? Did he visit you last night?"

"No, but I knew that he visited you. Anyway, the reason that I ask is because Veronica." He was hesitant in saying the name. "That's her name right? Veronica?"

"Yes, that's Vanessa's mother's name. Did she visit you last night? Did she say when she would come back?"

Nate thought back to last night. He wasn't sure if he should tell him or not. There were some things that she specified not to tell Seth but this wasn't one of them. "No, she did tell me that I need to make my move today though. I just don't know how to approach it. She said that if I'm too direct that it would make her close off again. She said that I would have one chance and that I would know when that was but it's weird. I've never had this happen."

"It would be strange if you've had this happen before. It's not common for this to happen. I'm surprised that it's happening now, especially with Vanessa."

They were silent for another minute. Nate looked at the clock. "Should we get going? I can just get my things and we can leave."

"Yeah, don't hurry though. I know that she's already awake, no need to rush." Nate followed what he said. "No need to rush, no need to rush." He repeated in his head. He grabbed his things and walked down the stairs. Seth was in his kitchen in the fridge. "You know, you need to get some food in here. It's all empty." Nate rolled his eyes. He remembered this conversation with Vanessa only a few days ago.

"I know. I just don't have time to."

"Well, how about tomorrow, we go to the store and buy some food."

"Alright." He went to the garage and Seth followed. They got in Seth's car and went to Vanessa's house. It wasn't a long trip and Nate was surprised to see her walk in to the garage to meet them. They both got out of the truck and Vanessa seemed to be a bit annoyed. "Is there any reason that you had to bring him along?"

"I'm sorry, he asked me to pick him up." He said in an annoyed voice, then he said in a mocking way, "Said that he didn't want to be ambushed by girls."

Vanessa rolled her eyes and turned around, not even looking at Nate. He noticed that she didn't even say hi. She held the door open and he smirked when he went through. He knew it was because of yesterday that she was acting like this. Seth and Nate went to the living room and put on the recorded game from last night that they both missed. It was between his favorite team and one that wasn't so good. He knew that his team was going to win and Seth was rooting for his team too. "Seth, my mother made us some food for breakfast. If you're hungry, come and eat." Nate just sat there as the start of the game came on.

Seth came back in with a plate full of breakfast food. "You're going to eat all of that?" The only other person that he knew could finish that whole thing in one sitting was Scotty.

"Yeah, I'm not sharing either."

"That's alright, I'm not hungry. So, what do you think that the score will be in the end?"

"Um… Let's put it at 4 to 12."

"Alright, I say that it's 2 to 11." The game went on and Nate realized that Vanessa wasn't sitting at the other side of the couch anymore. He figured that she went to go get ready. The game soon ended and the score was 3 to 9.

Seth stood and went to the kitchen. Nate followed and realized that he was going outside. It was better than Nate pictured it to be. It was all green grass and there was one tree. It almost touched the roof and there was a tire swing hanging from it. Seth went up behind him and poked him. "You're it."

Nate turned around but didn't see Seth. He stood there and waited for a noise. He turned once he heard grass moving and ran towards Seth. He tackled him. "Got you."

They started laughing and Nate looked up and saw Vanessa at the screen door that went back into the house. "I see the two of you are having fun."

They stopped and turned to her. They both smiled. She had a genuine smile on her face. It was the first time that Nate had truly seen it. She walked forward and sat on a tire swing. "What's got you so happy this morning?" She turned to Seth.

"I don't know. Any who, sorry Nate, but I can't train with you today. I promised Nate's brother Eric that I would train him today." He wasn't too disturbed by the news. He needed to finish a match with Scotty any way today. Nate was just glad that he didn't need to tell her that he couldn't train with her today.

"It's alright. I understand. I have some things to do today anyway."

Seth tilted his head at Nate. "Really? What?"

"I have a promise that I need to uphold to Scotty. I said that I would finish a round in the ring with him." He turned to Vanessa and stared walking towards her. "I have you to thank for my new knowledge in fighting." He leaned on the tree next to her.

"It was nothing. Anything to beat up some armatures that think that they know it all." She smirked and then looked at Seth. "Don't you dare think that. I am in no way going to do it, I'm not caving."

"Caving?" Nate looked between the two people. "What would she be caving into?" He asked himself.

"No, she doesn't mean caving. She means something else but she doesn't want to say it out loud."

"I don't know what you are talking about. I meant what I said and I said what I meant. I mean it too." She got up and started to climb the tree. She got to where the tree almost made contact to the roof of her house and she jumped. She didn't have to jump far, only a foot or two. When she landed, she went to the balcony of her room. "I'm going to get my things ready." What she just did seemed like it took no effort at all. They were both extremely shocked. It had seemed that she had done this before, practiced even. Seth and Nate looked at each other and decided to go in.

Vanessa went down stairs and smiled at them. They all went into the truck. "Do we have to go?"

Nate was shocked she asked that. He knew that she knew the answer to that. He couldn't see why she would ask that. Seth rolled his eyes and sighed, "Yes."

"Please." She whined.

"Ok."

"Really?" Nate was shocked that he said that. He looked at Vanessa and she seemed as shocked as he was.

"No. You're going to school wither you like it or not." She rolled her eyes and folded her arms.

"Vanessa?"

"What?" The truck started and they were pulling out of the drive way.

"Well, I was wondering, Is it just the people that you don't like at the school?"

"Yes, it is."

"Well, you could try to ignore them." She heard Seth chuckle.

"Her? Ignore people? She ignores them alright. Then, for taking her time away from her life, she beats them for it. It's happened on more than one occasion." Seth laughed. Nate could only imagine the Vanessa's past in schools. They soon arrived at the school and Vanessa didn't hesitate to get out of the truck. Nate on the other hand, hadn't gotten out until she was out of sight. They had both mentally agreed that they didn't want anyone to see them in the same truck at the same time. When Nate got out of the truck, the girls started going towards him. He knew that he had to deal with it right now. When the bell rang, he went inside his first class. When the second bell rang, to start class, the girls left to their seats. He pulled out the pictures that Vanessa gave him yesterday.

"Thanks."

"I remembered." He smiled and Vanessa put the drawings in her folder to keep them safe. "So, I was talking to Seth and." He didn't know if this was the right time to ask but he would try, and he would only try once like this.

She stopped him right there. "No, I won't."

"Why not?"

"I said it earlier. I'm not going to do it. I don't care how you or Seth feel. It's not true." Nate wasn't disappointed that she said no but was disappointed that he tried like this. He reminded himself that her mother said that he would know when the time was right. That didn't feel right asking her then so it wasn't the time. For all he knew, he actually set it back. He turned around and listened to Mr. Sy give his lesson. He did notice that Cassandra was giving him a longing look occasionally and a death stare behind him. All of the rest of the girls were still gazing up at him. He found the lesson more and more boring as the class progressed.

After a while, he heard Vanessa crumple a paper and saw her put it in her back pack. He decided to give her time to start a new drawing before he would look back and try to talk to her. The next time that he turned around, he could see that she was really concentrated on this picture, and it showed. It was a drawing of a pair of angel wings, nothing more except the words "Guardian Angel" in big, bold, fancy lettering. Nate only saw her draw pictures of people. This was the first that he saw her drawing something other than a person. "Wow."

Nate smiled and watched her look up. "What?"

"That drawing, I haven't seen you draw something like that. Usually you draw people."

"Yeah, I just thought to draw this."

"Ok, I know that I have some things going on today, and so do you, but I was thinking."

"I already told you no."

"No, not that, I was wondering if tomorrow, we could train some more." He knew that she was getting ready to close off to him. He needed to change the subject.

"Sure. Training. Tomorrow. You know where and I will stand no talking." The implied "or else" was there.

"Ok. I'm ok with that." He then turned and refocused on what Mr. Sy was saying. He was almost done with today's lesson and Nate knew that it was almost time to go. When the bell rang, he went to his next class. He saw Scotty again, trying to hit on a girl. "Hey, Scotty, meet me in the ring after school. We still have a match to finish. He could see the happiness in his eyes.

"Dude, cool. I'll be there."

"Alright, oh, and I'll let you take my car during lunch so you could go someplace nice with this lady." He saw the girl's eyes light up. He could only imagine what was going through her mind. "I get to ride in your car?" He smirked and then went to his 2nd class. It was soon lunch and he went to the parking lot. He found Seth's truck and it was parked. Seth got out of the truck and went over to him.

"Hey Nate, are these the beautiful young ladies that you talk about?" All of the girls gave a sigh.

"Yeah."

"Well, I'll tell you what, if they can guess the restaurant that we're going for lunch, they can come with us. Otherwise they can't. Only one guess per person." Nate chuckled. He knew that they were going back to Vanessa's. There was no way that anyone could come with them. They spent some minutes going through all the girls left sad and drove away. Once they were done, they went back to the truck. They drove around to watch if anyone was following them and then they went back to the school. They parked and Vanessa was still not there. "Well, she can't yell at us for being late." Seth said when he parked the truck. It was another minute until Vanessa came out of the gate. She got into the truck and looked in the rear view mirror. Seth looked over to her and smiled. Nate was looking out the window and thinking about how he would ask her out. He needed to do it today.

"I don't want to talk about it." When they arrived at her place, she got out of the truck. Vanessa didn't hurry in like she did yesterday but it didn't look like she was up to talking. Nate understood and didn't say anything. Vanessa walked in her house, slightly before him and flopped on her couch. Nate saw that she needed some sleep and so he sat on the edge of the couch and turned on the TV. It wasn't loud so that she could sleep, but loud enough so that they could hear and make out what it was saying. Seth sat down on the love seat and watched the TV with him. All of the stats for the games were on it and they scanned to find different teams. It took a while but all of the teams had now been shown and Seth and Nate went to the kitchen for something to eat.

"So, what do you want to eat? I'm starving."

"Whatever I guess, what's in there?" Nate was standing in the door way of the kitchen facing Seth. Seth was looking in the fridge and pulled out a trey of food. "Well, this looks nice." Nate agreed and walked in to the kitchen. When he was finished, Seth was still eating, Seth was still devouring the food. He went to the living room but was surprised that Vanessa was no longer lying on the couch. He looked back at Seth and then quietly went up the stairs. He opened the door and saw Vanessa sitting on the railing of her balcony. He went and stood next to where she sat. "Hey."

"Hey." He could sense that there was still the feeling of awkwardness in her voice.

It was silent for a while, both of them were there thinking. "How was your sleep?" It was the only topic that he could think of.

"It was alright, it didn't feel like much though. It didn't seem as relaxing as I thought. I came up here instead." She looked at him and patted the railing as for gesturing for him to sit there. He took the gesture and sat where her hand had been. "Why is it that you do this?"

Nate was confused. "She just told me to sit there didn't she? What was she talking about?" He thought. "Do what?"

"This. Make me feel like I'm going to faint, make my thoughts disappear? I'm an opinionated person with many thoughts, even though I don't share them much, you make my thoughts disappear and so I don't know what to say." He noticed that she didn't look at him when she said that.

He thought about his answer. He guessed that this was the right time to do it. They were alone and it would give her time to react. It was silent as he thought. He didn't think that she would be so forward with the question. "Does she even realize that she just told me that she likes me?" He noticed that they had been sitting there in silence for a while and he knew that he needed to answer the question or she would be angry. He waited until she turned her head to him. His heart started to race the second that it did. He was never nervous around a female, why should it matter now? He made a noise hoping that she would look at him. He was trying to put it in words, her answer that is but he couldn't. She did turn to him as he thought that she would. They were now looking into each other's eyes. His thoughts of words were a blur to him now. The only thought that he could hear clearly was the words "Kiss her!" He tried to say something but it didn't come out. Instead, he did what he thought. He kissed her. It was quick, but he knew that it had its effect. She turned her head and whipped her mouth. He saw it and almost regretted it. "Did she do it because she doesn't like me? No! She practically said so herself." He was slightly embarrassed now. "I'm sorry. I couldn't control myself." He was stuttering in nervousness.

Nate heard the door open to her bedroom. He knew who it was so he didn't need to look back at him. He turned anyway; Seth was looking between the two. Nate knew that he would ask about it later but he wasn't going to ask with her here. Seth walked up to the other side of Vanessa. It was silent for another minute. It was Seth that broke the silence. "It's time to be leaving."

Vanessa looked at him and then at Nate. Nate blushed a bit but seemed to control it some. She got off first and then he did too. They followed Seth to his truck and road to the school. Nate felt the awkward silence in the truck. He couldn't help but feel that it was his fault. If he hadn't done that, it wouldn't feel like it does. On the other hand, he knew that he took the only chance that he had to do it. They weren't going to see each other for the rest of the day and he knew that that was what Vanessa's mother was talking about. When they arrived at school, Vanessa got out without hesitation. Nate got out shortly after because he knew that Seth would ask what happened. He did walk slower though, he didn't want to seem like he needed an answer and was pushing it.

When the girls had realized that he was there again, they swarmed around him. He was glad that this would soon be over. He was also glad that Vanessa was one that could hold herself and not be beaten by the others. He went to his next class but couldn't stop thinking about her. The only hope he had was that she wouldn't beat up the girls that would still flirt with him. After school, he met up with Scotty. "Hey man, thanks for the car during lunch. Where have you been? I haven't seen you the past few days."

"Well, I've been making new friends."

"Really, anyone that I might know?"

"Yeah, I've been hanging out with Seth."

"The guy that was with Vanessa at the diner?"

"Yeah, that guy. He's a pretty cool guy."

"Wow. I didn't see that coming. I thought that if he hung out with Vanessa, that he would be like her."

"Well, she's not all that bad. I've hung out with her too. Both Seth and her are fighters."

"No, dude, she looks too weak to be a fighter."

"Trust me; they both can beat me blind folded. They have taught me new fighting techniques."

"I would have never guessed that. Seth looks strong but never Vanessa. Wow. Really? She trained you?" Nate could tell that he was confused, astonished too.

"Yeah, well let's see how we've both improved in our match today."

"Oh yeah. I'm gunna kick your butt."

"That sounds like a challenge." They both got in the car and went to the ring. It was just as Nate remembered. There were guys everywhere training. He saw some that needed help in positions and stances that he would have never seen before. When they both changed, they got in the ring and started to fight. Nate had the upper hand from the start. He was dodging Scotty's moves left and right. They started to attract a crowd of people. Nate was only on the defense and hadn't hit Scotty. He started to say things that Vanessa had told him when they started to train. "Don't lose your opponent. Your guard was down. Don't think that your opponent will automatically fight back." He felt that he was training Scotty and not fighting him. He then went on the offensive when he saw a window. He got multiple hits on Scotty and he pinned him under his hand. The match was called and Nate won. Scotty was shocked and almost trembling with what had just occurred.

"How? How did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"That, beat me? It seemed as though you weren't even trying."

"Oh, yeah that, let's just say that what I just put you through, lasted for hours when I first trained with them. They coached me just like I did to you. Now, I want you to fight me again in a few hours take the things that I said to you and think about them." Nate left and started to lift some weights.

"Ok."

It was now 2 hours after their fight and Scotty had been working on his cardio. "Hey, Scotty, are you ready to fight?"

"Yeah, just let me do a cool down and I'll get suited up."

"Alright, I'll be waiting for you." He went to the ring and watched a few fighters. He couldn't help but shout out how to fix their stance or some helpful tips to the fighters.

"Hey man, I'm ready. Let's get signed up for a match."

"Alright."They went up to the signup sheet and they would be the after the next fight. They had watched the fight and instead of yelling out what they were doing wrong, Nate was telling Scotty. It was a weird sensation that was brought to Nate, telling others what they had been doing wrong. He had never seen what was right or wrong but now he knew what was better to do. When it was their turn, a crowd appeared and it started. Nate still had the upper hand and on the defensive. He still told Scotty what he was doing wrong. He was glad that Scotty caught on and improved his fighting. It was then that Nate went on the offensive and pinned Scotty again. He would need to teach Scotty how to defend himself and not just rely on being on the offensive. "That was a good match. I will have to teach you some things but you did alright."

"Wow, I'm stumped. You couldn't have gained that much knowledge in two days. It's nearly impossible."

"You'll be surprised on what I have learned. I have had some hard work out these past days."

"I can tell. You've gotten a whole lot stronger too."

"Well, it's getting late, I still need to do some things before I get home so bye."

"Bye." Nate started walking towards the door and was stopped. "Nate? When will you teach me?"

"Tomorrow, I will teach you tomorrow." Nate smiled and turned around. Maybe he could bring Vanessa and Seth there tomorrow too. That would be fun; they could do what he did today and tell people what they are doing wrong. When he left to his car, he noticed that he was the one who brought Scotty here. He went back and made sure that Scotty would get a ride home. When he went to his car the second time, he saw a girl in his truck's passenger seat. It wasn't any girl either. It was Veronica. He got in the driver's seat and sat in silence. It was another few minutes until he gathered his thoughts. "How?" was the only thing that came to him mind. "How did you get in here? It was locked."

"Just as easily as I got into your house. Now, I'm so happy that you made your move. Now to make it official, we need to go to the store."

Nate was confused to say the least. He knew what she was talking about but why did they need to go to the store? "Alright, what store?"

"The jewelry store, duh. Where else would we go?"

"Alright." Nate went to the store that first went to his mind. He would go to Jared. He also thought about Kay jewelers because every kiss begins with Kay but he would go to Jared. It wasn't a long trip there and Veronica said that she would pay for what he bought but he had to choose it. He had looked around but didn't like what he saw. That was, until he saw the perfect necklace. It was a silver chain with silver Angel wings and a heart cut sapphire in the middle. He thought that it was perfect. He pointed at it and Vanessa came over to look. They both agreed that it was perfect and they bought it. "Now where are we going?"

"Your house, we need a few things before we go out again."

"Um…Ok." He drove to his house and Veronica didn't hesitate to get in his house and grabbed a few pictures that he had drawn in his spare time. He sort of got the clue on what they were doing and so he went along with it. They then went out to the store and bought a small black box and some white ribbon. He put the necklace and the drawings in the box and grabbed a piece of paper and wrote a note on it. He noticed that the pictures that Veronica had picked were all pictures of wings that he had practiced. **"Hey, can I draw Angel wings now?"** He put the note in the box and carefully tied the ribbon around the box. "Ok, now where do you want me to go?"

"Well, she won't be home for a while but I guess that we could leave it there."

"What?"

"Our next stop is my house."

"Ok?"

"Don't worry about it." So he drove to Vanessa's house and then waited for Veronica to get out and do something, she didn't do anything. It made him confused. "What are you waiting for? Go and put that box at her door. Man, do I have to think of everything around here?"

Nate did what she said. He then stood for a while, thinking. Looking back at his truck, Veronica was gone. He didn't hear his door open or close. "Um… ok…" He thought to himself. He got back in his truck and drove home. He had been sitting in his kitchen for about an hour and he picked up the phone and looked at the clock. It was 9:00. He walked over to his couch and dialed the number. He didn't press call; instead, he hung up the phone and doubted himself. He looked at the clock again. 9:15. He dialed the number again but he didn't press call this time either. Yet once more, he doubted himself. "What if she's not home yet? What if she's sleeping?" He looked at the clock one more time and he saw that it was now 9:30. He dialed the number and this time, pressed call. It rang and every time it rang, without an answer, he became more nervous.

"Hello?" The answer that he had been waiting for.

"Um, Hi. Vanessa, did you get the package?" He didn't know what else to say.

"Yeah, how did you know that I was home?"

"Well, it's dark, it's late, and I just thought that you were home." "That's a lame excuse now isn't it?" He thought, but it didn't seem that she was mad at him.

"Well, I just got home." Now he was thankful that he had waited, and what was with that voice? Is she nervous? "I do agree that you have made improvements on the realism of the wings"

That broke the slight tension between them, slightly. "Ha, yeah, thanks." He was still nervous though. It was silent on the phone for a bit and he was afraid that she wasn't there anymore. "But I don't hear a hang up tone?" "So, Vanessa, I know that you don't like this and all, but." He was too nervous to finish the question.

"Yes."

"What?" "Did she know what she was saying?"

"Yes, I'll try this. I don't know where it will lead but, I'm willing to try." He was relived at her answer. It was silent for a minute and he heard something like the phone hitting the ground and then it hung up on him. He didn't really think much of it though, he was just glad that she said yes. He hung up and then went up to his room. He could sleep better knowing that tomorrow, all of the girls would stop bothering him and that she would be his. He fell on his bed and stared at the ceiling."Wow.


	9. Vanessa's view Day 5

Chapter 9 (Vanessa's view)

Vanessa was sitting on her railing now. She had just gotten up and it was 3. She just was sitting on her railing and thinking about what the day will hold. No doubt that she would have to make a few girls get away from him. The person that she would hate most to deal with was Cassandra. She was not looking forward to that melt down. She stayed up on her railings until she heard Seth pull up. She looked at the time. 4:15. "Right on time." She thought to herself. She went down to meet him. She was sort of surprised to see Nate with him but she thought that it was alright. She didn't miss the smirk that was on Seth's face. He obviously was told what had happened. She didn't know how long he was at Nate's house but it was long enough to probably hear the whole story. Nate walked around the truck with a nervous smile. "Don't be like that, I told you that I would try it out, I didn't say that I would pound your face in the next time I saw you." She walked over to them and leaned on the wall.

Seth walked to the house and Nate put his arm around Vanessa. They walked in together and then went to her kitchen. She realized that there wasn't a note, ANYWHERE! She looked around and Nate put his arm down. "What is it?"

"There's no note."

"What?"

"You heard me, there's no note. Usually, my mother leaves a note for the next day." She looked at Nate and then at Seth.

"It's alright, your mother's fine." She looked at Seth when he spoke.

"Fine, so you have contacted her too?" She noticed that he was now looking nervous. Vanessa heard the front door open to her house and turned her head. It was her mother. Vanessa ran to her mother and hugged her. She didn't even notice that there was another person walking through the door. "Where have you been? You left me without any knowledge on where you were going or when you were coming back."

"I asked her to leave. I needed her help." It wasn't until the other spoke that she realized that her mother wasn't the only one that came through the door. There, standing right beside her mother, was her father. Vanessa felt a tear fall down on her cheek. She smiled and gave her father a hug. It was sever minutes before she let go of her dad. She needed to make sure that it was real. She only looked up when she realized that both Nate and Seth were behind her talking to her mother. Vanessa also realized that her father didn't have wings anymore. She turned around and looked at everyone.

"Am I missing something?" She immediately thought about the behaviors of both Nate and Seth. "Did my parents?"

Nate seemed to know what she was talking about. "Yes." He looked down and then she looked at both of her parents. Even though Nate had help, she was glad that they did help him. Now she had someone close and caring for her. She went up to Nate and stood a foot away from him. Her arms crossed and legs shoulders length apart. To everyone but Nate, she looked pleased and happy but to Nate, she seemed to have the desired effect. He still had his head down and whispered, "I'm sorry."

Vanessa started to laugh and when Nate lifted his head in confusion, she wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged back. Vanessa noticed that they were now the only ones in the room. "You don't have to be sorry. I'm glad they did that." He kissed her check and let go of her. Everyone was in the kitchen preparing breakfast for everyone. She wasn't surprised at the proportions that were being dished. She knew that male Angels had large appetites. Nate on the other hand, was looking astounded at the rate that Seth and her dad were eating their food. Vanessa grabbed his hand and went over and grabbed a plate. She piled it with French toast and cookies. Nate also grabbed some French toast and cookies.

She never let go of his hand and then they both went up to her room. Before they were at the top of the stairs, Vanessa heard her father's voice. "Now, don't have too much fun you two." She knew that he was only joking but it made her blush. She shook her head and looked at Nate; he too was blushing. They got in her room and went to her balcony. They both sat on the table and started eating. The sun was just barely coming up.

Vanessa, even though she had the bigger portion, finished eating her breakfast first. "So…" Nate started. He was still eating but only had a few cookies left. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you say yes?"

It made her think. "The kiss!" She wanted to scream. She didn't. "I don't know. I guess…" She paused trying to finish thinking of the reason. "I guess that I decided to give you a chance." She knew that it sounded fake. He smirked and then finished her cookie.

"You don't expect me to believe that do you? You were totally against it 24 hours ago." She knew it. He could almost read her like an open book. She stood and hopped over the rails onto the roof. Nate stood and leaned against the railing in front of her. "Are you going to tell me?" She stood right in front of him and the only thing that was separating them was the railing. She kissed his cheek and then ran off on to the tree. Nate knew that he couldn't do that. He just sat on the railing. "Was that your answer?" He yelled but got no answer from her. He rolled his eyes and grabbed his last cookie.

Vanessa watched him closely. She knew that he couldn't follow her and that's why she did it. Being together felt different and once she kissed him, she felt that spark that she felt the first time. She climbed down the tree and walked into the kitchen. Seth was in there and looked confused at her. "Having fun?"

"Not too much fun." She heard her dad from the living room. Seth smiled and shook his head, but then he went back to eating. Vanessa giggled and then went up the stairs to her room.

She saw Nate sitting on her railing and she couldn't help but smile. She walked up to him and he was looking at the mountains. "It's beautiful isn't it? Sometimes I sit here and just watch it." Nate turned to look at her. She got up on the railings and he put his arm around her. "I'm glad that they haven't disturbed the beauty of nature. Humans can be so stupid with what is most precious." She looked up at him and she realized what she had said. It wasn't much of what she said but how she said it; as if she wasn't human. Of course she's not human but he didn't know that. He didn't say anything and seemed that he let it go. They sat there looking in each other's eyes and she was lost in his green eyes. He kissed her but unlike the first one; it wasn't just a flash and gone. This one was special and meant something. The spark was there and she wondered if he felt it or it was just her imagination.

When they broke the kiss, they both looked back and saw the time. It was time to leave for school. She smiled because this was going to be the first day that she didn't question going to school. They got off the railing and she grabbed her bag. When she was about to head out the door to the garage, she was stopped by her mother. "I'll take the time today to work on the necklace and then when you get home, I'll make that one into a bracelet for you." Vanessa smiled and nodded.

"Thanks." Vanessa then went into her garage. Seth and Nate were getting into the car and they took off to the school. It was silent but it was a nice feeling in the truck and not a tension one.

When they got there, Seth looked at both Nate and Vanessa. "So, how are you going to breaks those little girl's hearts?"

Vanessa laughed. "Like this." And with that, she got out of the truck. Nate did too and she winked at him. She then went to his side and grabbed his hand and rested her head on his shoulder. Nate smirked and they started walking. As the girls saw them, some stood in shock and others still went up to him. When they did that, Vanessa didn't hesitate with getting them away. He was hers now and not theirs. When they got in class, the look on Cassandra's face made Vanessa's day right then and there. She thought that Cassandra would explode with anger or something of that nature. Instead, she just sat in her seat giving silent revenge treats to Vanessa. She didn't care though. She was happy; both her mother and dad had come back and she had a man by her side. She could care less what other's thought right now. The bell rang and she watched as the sad faces of girls came in and got the news.

"Alright class, today is Friday and so all of today I will give you to complete the weekly packet and after class, you will put the packet in this bin." He held up the bin. Vanessa was holding Nate's hand to the side of their desk. Both facing forward; Nate with his hand back and Vanessa with her hand forward. They both seemed to notice when Mr. Sy had changed his demeanor. "Nate? Get a girl? These girls seemed so sad and they are paying attention to me."

"Yes Sir. Vanessa and I are together."

"Vanessa?"

"Yes Sir?" She was smiling. They were still holding hands too.

"You are aware that when Nate dates a girl he means it right, you will also have to be aware of the girls that still will try to get to him and ignore you right?"

Yes, she did know. She observed it from him and Cassandra. She knew that this would be the time to declare her toughness to the girls in the class. "Yes, Mr. Sy, I am aware of those facts. I will not stand down if someone tries to get to him, nor am I the jealous type." She smiled as she knew that that infuriated Cassandra. Most of it was directed as an insult to her. Mr. Sy nodded and then dismissed the class to work on their packet. Vanessa pulled out the packet the she was given Monday in the class. She looked it over and knew every answer that was on it. Her first hour was her History class. She knew everything that she needed to know to pass history all the way through college at the age of 5. She went through the packet writing down the answers. Nate was amazed at her. She zipped rite through it. When she was done, she gave the packet to Nate to check his answers and copy the ones that he didn't get yet. She sat there drawing. Instead of drawing actual drawings, she drew small doodles on the paper. They were detailed and looked more like small pieces of artwork but to her they were only little doodles. Nate had finished and watched her draw. She was zoned out thinking. Nothing in particular but she was still in thought. Nate grabbed her hand and she looked up at him. He was now standing and everyone was leaving. "Was I zoned out that long?" She looked at her paper. It almost had no blank spots on it.

"Yeah, I didn't want to pull you from your thoughts. You seemed to be in deep thought. Did you know that you draw fantastic doodles when you zone out?"

"Hm. Usually I draw an actual picture. My drawings say what I'm thinking most of the time when I zone out."

"I guess you were all over the place when you were thinking. Nothing on that paper is alike." She looked down. He was right. Some of them only she would be able to connect but others had nothing to do with any of them. She put away her things and Nate had walked with her to her next class. When they got there, Nate stopped. "See you later." He kissed her on her cheek and left. She smiled and then went in.

She sat down and kept to herself. She only listened to her teacher but didn't do anything in it. All the students were idiots to her. There was only one student in that school that didn't annoy her anymore. When the bell rang, she went to her next class. She listened to the teacher and she already knew what she was teaching. Vanessa's 3rd hour is Math. Vanessa finished what she was given for homework in less than 10 minutes and after class, she went up to the teacher. "Here, I finished it."

The teacher took the paper and smiled. "I expect all of these done by the end of school. I know that you can do them. It won't take you long. You know that." It was the homework that she hadn't done the days before.

"Alright." Vanessa said rolling her eyes. Every Angel had an inhuman power. Seth had the power of feeling emotions. Vanessa's father had the power of seeing the future and what would happen if he tampered with it. Vanessa, even though she wasn't all Angel, had a power too; it wasn't as wow as the other's but she had a photographic memory and she could translate those images on paper exactly as they were in her head.

She walked out of the class and saw Scotty walking toward her direction. She happened to catch his attention at the last second and he started to walk with her. "Hi Vanessa, I didn't know that you and Nate had a thing. When did you two first come together?"

She was almost at the gate and she could see Nate with his back turned to her, not knowing that she was there, and talking to some guys. "Last night." She stood right behind Nate now and she put a finger to her mouth telling the people around her to not notice that she was there.

She had listened to him talk about the tournament he did see Scotty and was talking to him too but he hadn't noticed the girl behind him. "And so I will win the tournament tomorrow."

"No doubt. With the things that I have taught you, there would be no competition." Vanessa said as she wrapped her arm around him and going to his side.

"Hey Vanessa, how long have you been standing there?"

The guys that were around them were laughing. "She's been there since Scotty came." One of the guys pointed out.

Nate kissed Vanessa and she turned her head so that he would only kiss her cheek. She giggled and then let go of Nate. Vanessa walked to the parking lot where she saw Seth pulling in. Nate had grabbed her hand when she stopped. "Why did you do that?" He sounded a little sad when he said it.

"Please, if I didn't then they would have gone crazy. Besides, I'm not in favor of public displays of affection just because of friends." Seth pulled up and they both got in.

"Where to?"

"Vanessa's place, where else?"

"I don't know, I just thought that you two would change things now that you're together." Both Vanessa and Nate started to laugh.

"No, I don't think that change would be the best. I like it the way things are. I don't think that change is necessary right now." Vanessa said. "Besides, my father's home isn't he?" Seth said nothing. His face didn't even change. "Isn't he?"

"Yea, your father is home, and your mother is making lunch right now. She asked if you two were going to come home but I didn't know. Your father though." He paused. Vanessa knew exactly why. Nate was in the truck and he still didn't know. "Your father had a hunch that you two might go home." He looked back at Nate. He didn't seem as though he knew yet and he didn't want it to be him that broke the news.

"I thought so. Anyway, what is my mother making for lunch?"

"Well, she's making burgers and she bought loads of chips and stuff."

"Sounds good." They road to Vanessa's and parked the truck in her garage. Vanessa walked in holding hands with Nate and Seth went in front of them. "Hey mom."

"Hello sweetie, lunch will be done in 10. I still need to finish cooking Seth's and your father's."

"Alright, well be in my room if you need us."

Vanessa went to her room and this was the first day that she wasn't tired and needed sleep. She felt as if something had changed in her when they got together but she didn't mind as much as she thought that she had. When they got into her room, she put her bag down and Nate put his bags right beside hers. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered "were not in public."

She immediately turned in his embrace and kissed him. Her door was still open and her father walked by. "Ahem." He cleared his throat. They parted and she blushed. "It's alright. It's not like I didn't see it coming." Again, she saw Nate in the corner of her eye. He was blushing a bit but he didn't seem to get what he was hinting at. She was glad. She didn't want to tell him about it yet. She expected that after time, she would tell him but if she told him now, that would be breaking Angel code. The code is that the only way that you are allowed to tell another that you are an Angel is if you are in a serious relationship with someone. If she told him now, the head of the Angels would deem it not serious and she didn't like to even think of the consequences. Her father smirked and then went down stairs.

Vanessa walked to her balcony and Nate followed. They stood in silence but Vanessa was in Nate's arms so she didn't want to change the moment. They looked out into the mountains. "You know, I never get tired of this view." Vanessa looked back at Nate.

"Me neither and I have lived here for a month."

"Really? A month? I thought that you only moved in last week."

"No, my mother agreed to let me have some time off of school. The last school that I went to, I went there for two days." They both laughed. It once again quieted down and they stood there. "Lunch."

"What?"

She grabbed Nate's hand and went down stairs. Lunch was ready and Vanessa fixed herself a few burgers and got a few bags of chips. Nate made himself a burger and decided that he was going to share with Vanessa some of her chips. They went into the living room and sat down. They sat on the love seat and her mother, father, and Seth were sitting on the couch. The baseball game was on and she wouldn't make Nate miss it. She put her bags of chips on her lap and she let Nate take some. She knew that she could finish them, they were family sized bags, but she thought that she would share with him and only him. It was now time to leave and they went back up to her room to get their things. Before she left her room, however, she was turned around and Nate kissed her. When they stopped, Nate smirked. "Because it's not in public." She knew what he meant. That kiss was because it would be the last one that they would have until school was over. She didn't mind though.

They went down stairs and Seth was already heading out the garage door. "Have a nice day sweetie." Her mother said as they also left through the door.

Once they were in the truck and heading off, Nate spoke up. "I have a question for the both of you." Seth and Vanessa looked at him. "Would you two like to come with me afterschool to the ring with me? I fought there yesterday and I helped the people there. I was wondering if you two would like to do the same." Seth looked back at Vanessa.

Through their eyes, they had a mental conversation. He was saying yes while she was saying no. Finally, they had agreed that they would go, but Vanessa would stay with Nate. Vanessa turned around. "Yes, we will go with you to the ring."

"Thanks. I had a problem talking to a few people yesterday saying what they were doing wrong." They arrived and Nate and Vanessa got out of the truck. They walked around until the first bell rang. They then walked to Vanessa's next class. Vanessa still had to intimidate a few other girls but she didn't mind. She liked having the power to do so. Vanessa's fourth hour was science. This was the least interesting class out of them all to her. It was filled with either theories or mathematics. She did her work in that class but was still reluctant. The teacher didn't like her and it was evident in the way he spoke to her. Today was different though. He never directly said a word to her or even gave her a disapproving look. She didn't know if it was because she was doing work or if it was because she was with Nate. Vanessa shook it off and left once the bell rang. She went to her 5th hour and she never liked the teacher. He was the total opposite of her last teacher. She had Language Arts this hour. Her teacher was always pathetically obnoxious and filled with enthusiasm to the point that the teacher would ware down any 6-year-old. She did her work in there too and the teacher pointed it out to her. She was almost breaking Vanessa's eardrum with how loud she was. When that class was over, she went to her elective. Her mother had signed her up for taking 2 foreign languages. This hour she has brail. Vanessa gets easily board in this class, not because of the students but because the topic is easy to her. She found the pattern to brail when she started to learn it and it has been easy ever since. It was also her last class so whenever she left, she was ready for a fight. Today, however, she knew that she wouldn't get that fight. She had to go to that stupid ring and help Nate "Train" people as she saw it. She didn't train commoners, let alone human commoners that weren't worth her time. The only reason that she would even think about going there was because Nate was the one that asked her. After class, she went to the gate to find Nate introducing Seth to his friends. He seemed to pick up on her being there and looked at her. Nate also turned once he saw that Seth's attention wasn't on them anymore.

"Hey Vanessa, I was just introducing Seth to my buddies." He went over to her and put his arm around her. He whispered in her ear. "We'll, be off soon. I know that you don't like them." She chuckled at his words. He had picked that up faster than she expected him to. She was glad though. He was getting better at reading her. They walked back to Seth and the others and Seth was talking to the others about fighting techniques. "Well, why don't we go to the ring and we could try them out there. It's a better place than here. They might think that we are actually fighting here." Nate said smiling.

"Agreed." Seth said then they turned to the truck. "Hey, Nate, where is it that we are going?"

"Oh, the ring is on the corner of East and Jules street." They got in and when they left, Nate's friend followed them to the ring. The ride was short and no words were spoken. When they arrived, they parked in front and the followers parked next to them. They all got out and went inside. "Seth, you know how Vanessa was coaching me the first day, telling me what I was doing wrong, I would like you to do that over in the fighting ring. All of the fights are in there and I will be in there after I'm done looking around."

"Alright. Where's the ring?"

"It's down the hall and you can't miss it." Seth nodded his head and went down the hallway. Vanessa was still holding Nate's hand but watching the other people in the room. They all seemed to be worked up, not angry but ready for a good fight. Some looked weak, as if they had only ever heard the word fight but others had muscles on their muscles. Nate led her to what she would call a control room. It had computers everywhere and they seemed to be showing what was going on everywhere in the building. "Vanessa, I know that you don't like people or training others. I also know that you only agreed to do this if you are with me at all times."

"Ok, Seth told you?" She knew that's the only way that he could know that. "He wasn't that good at reading me was he?" She shook the thought off. "No! He's only been able to tell my moods. I am not an open book to him!"

"Well, sort of. I put two and two together and got the conclusion. I'm glad that I got it right. There was another thing that I thought about it but I knew that it was highly unlikely." He paused and then looked out the door that they came. "We will be in the proving grounds. It's much like the ring but this is only training. Not necessarily an actual fight. We will be on the side lines telling them what they are doing wrong." He then pointed to one of the screens. "There is where we are going." Vanessa looked at it. It had a fighting ring in it but it wasn't as big as the other one and there were many other things in the room. Only a few people were in the room and she liked it that way. "There is where people go when they are waiting for their fight to be next in line. It's not much like your training, but remember; they aren't as good as me." He said that last part with a cocky grin on his face. Vanessa smiled. Of course they weren't as good as him. He was one of the best humans that she had ever seen. She knew that no one was outside of the room nor that anyone would be passing by soon. She put her arms around Nate's neck and kissed him. He didn't hesitate and when she pulled beck, breaking the kiss, she grabbed his hand and walked out the room.

"Show me the way." He smiled. He was obviously not expecting her to do that. He guided her down the hall, passing many other rooms. It reminded her of the training grounds that she liked to go to every now and then. They finally arrived and she looked around. There were different people in there now. There were only still 4 or 5 people in the room though. They looked a bit better than the others that were in there before. They looked like the people that were willing to learn and not stuck in their ways. That was another wondrous and unique power that Vanessa posses. She could feel stubbornness and strong feelings of hate or sadness. These guys were perfect to train, though she couldn't train them properly as she did Nate. Nate led her to the bench that looked on the fighters. It was eye level with them and she liked it. They all looked at her as if she were the red crayon in a pile of blues.

Nate looked at them with his authority and they didn't question it. "Fighting stances!" Nate yelled as though he were the ref in the match. He whispered to Vanessa that she could call them out whenever she wanted and tell them what to fix. The two in the ring started to get in their stance. The two seemed total opposites of each other. One seemed to have his own original stance while the other posed in the 'normal' fighting stance as she called it. She stood and examined them from her seat. She smiled at the one that had the original stance. When she looked at the other one though, she looked at Nate. He smiled and nodded as if he knew what she was thinking. She hopped down from her seat and the two watched her, still not moving from their stances. As she got in the ring, with ease, she went over to the one she wanted to correct. She wouldn't tell anyone except Nate or Seth her fighting stances so she chose to make a new one that in her head would work. She told him to bend his knees more but don't lock them in place, turn his torso to the right more and be ready to move at any given moment. He did as she said and then she got out of the ring but instead of going back to her seat, she climbed to the next level. There was a balcony type railing around the room and so she went up the stairs to them and watched as she heard Nate yell "First move!" They both moved and stopped once they finished their first move.

Her new stance worked even better than she had originally hoped. He had dodged the other's attack and attacked when he was in the clear. She examined their positions now and knew that they couldn't just stop in their normal fight. Nate looked up at her as he caught her eyes. He nodded and she knew that he wanted her to say something about the move. She had talked during their fight so doing this wouldn't be much different. She replayed the move in her head several times before she finally knew what to say to them. "Blue!" She named them by their shirts. The guy in the blue was the one that had his own stance. The other guy had a black shirt. "When demonstrating your first move, you didn't account for his new stance. With that, you were left wide open after your first attack." She then looked at the other guy. "Black! I am glad to see that you had blocked the move but when you went on the offensive, you were left open when you landed. If we hadn't stopped, Blue could have easily gotten you to the ground if he had thought about it." She looked back at Nate and smiled, signaling that she was done and that they could continue. "Next move and finish" Nate had yelled. Vanessa watched the fight. She couldn't help but yell out how to fix their mistakes. They were improving. After the next group came in, Nate told the two fighters to stop. They did as they were told. Nate went up to Vanessa and held her hand whispering that she can take charge and start calling. They repeated the process and Vanessa started calling out directions as Nate did before. She was still walking around and Nate went back down to the seat. She watched him do this and then continued to do what she was doing before. She watched each 'match' .She never left the 2nd floor of the room. She had made several new fighting stances. She was so busy with what she was doing that she hadn't even noticed that Nate had left the room. No fighters were coming and it had been at least 30 minutes since the last fight. She was sitting against the wall on the 2nd floor. Vanessa got tired of waiting and Nate had yet to come up. When she stood and looked to the seat that Nate was sitting at, he wasn't there. She didn't know when he left though. She got up and went down to the seat but couldn't find him anywhere in the room. She was now the only one in the room. Vanessa looked at the time. It was now 5:45. She had never guessed that it was so late. She looked at the door way that she and Nate arrived through. She stormed out to find Nate. She went through the way that she came, and arrived at the lobby of the place. Looking around, she saw the hall that Seth had gone through and went there. As she guessed it, both Seth and Nate were there watching the fight. Seth realized that she was there immediately. Vanessa caught his eye and she could tell that Seth knew that she was angry. Seth nudged Nate's arm and Nate turned to look at Vanessa. "Hey. I forgot to tell you that the closing time here was 6 and that this was the last fight. I'm sorry that I left. I needed to check up on other things. I came in here and started talking to Nate and the others that fought. They really liked the two of you and appreciate that you two helped them." Nate hugged Vanessa and walked over to Seth holding Vanessa's hand.

"Hey Vanessa, this is our last fight and then everyone will leave. Nate said that we could stay and fight though."

"Really? Alright, I will fight you and then Nate." She looked at the fight that was currently going on. "Come on, I told you not to do that in training. Don't get your back to your opponent." She yelled at them. They didn't stop fighting but she knew that they both heard her. She smiled and went to the bench and sat down. She was now really tired. Nate seemed to understand and sat by her and she put her head down on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

When she woke from her little nap, she wasn't in the same room that she was in before. She realized that she was in the control room that Nate had taken her to before. She was lying down in a chair curled up and a small pillow under her head. Nate obviously put her there but she didn't know how long she had been sleeping. She stood up slowly and walked to the room that she fell asleep in. Neither of them was in there and the lights were off. She went to the lobby and she found Seth. He was sitting behind the desk watching the monitor that was in front of him. "Hey, Vanessa, how was your nap?"

"Um, alright, I guess."

"Good. We will be leaving once Nate finishes closing up the place."

"Where?"

"Home, where else would we be going?"

Vanessa guessed that she slept through the fighting. Seth didn't seem too worried though. Vanessa took a seat next to the door and waited for Nate to arrive. She meditated when waiting. It was better than just sitting there anyway. Her father always said that to be a good fighter one must be best in both mind and strength. This is why she knows everything being taught in schools, she was taught that at a very young age and having a photographic memory helped. When she heard Nate come walking in, she opened her eyes but Nate wasn't there. Seth still was at the desk and nothing had happened since she was sitting. She closed her eyes again and a few minutes later, she heard Nate come in and so she opened her eyes. It was the same as what happened the first time. She looked around and decided to not think about it. Nothing was happening. She closed her eyes to meditate and when she thought that she heard Nate come in, she didn't open her eyes and she focused more on what was happening. She saw Nate going in and out of different rooms, locking them up and closing the door. He was going down the hall toward the monitor room where she woke up in and she knew that he was checking up on her. She watched as he entered and was shocked to see her not there. Vanessa opened her eyes. There still was no disturbance in the room. "Seth? Has Nate been in here since I sat down?"

"No, why?"

"I thought that I heard something." Just then, Nate entered the room.

"Well, I guess that you heard him coming down the hall." Nate smiled and went to Vanessa.

"Hey. I know that you would have wanted to get woken up but I figured that you needed to sleep. Because you didn't sleep when you were home for lunch and right after school, you went here and so you didn't get any sleep."

"Thank you." Vanessa hugged him. "Home?"

"Yes, I will take you home." Nate hugged a bit tighter before he let go of her. Seth was already walking out the door.

"Come on you two love birds, I'm leaving." Nate laughed but Vanessa stuck her tongue out at him, which made Nate laugh even more. She turned to him.

"What?"

"That was mature."

"I'm glad I taught you something new today." She giggled and went to the truck. They all got in and Seth looked at Vanessa. He seemed to be both confused and concerned. "What?"

"Nothing." He turned to look at the road and started to drive. Vanessa started to think and whish that he would tell her what's on his mind. They never kept secrets from each other. She knew that something was troubling him. When they got to her house, it was now 7 when she looked at the time in the car. They were all greeted with the smell of home cooked turkey when they got home. "What's the occasion?"

"Well, we have a few things to celebrate today. The arrival of your father, your relationship, oh, and I know that you don't seem to care about tomorrow but."

She was cut off by Seth. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot. It's your birthday tomorrow."

Nate stood shocked. Vanessa snapped her fingers in his face. It was true that she didn't think that being a year closer to her fate was all that important. When she came of age, she would become part of the Angel council. Vanessa didn't like them. All of them were just stuck up old men that cared for no one but themselves. Vanessa, on the outside, looks as though she never cared about anyone but she cared for those closest to her. Most other Angels could retire into the field that they wanted. Vanessa wanted to be what she already is, a trainer of trainers. She was one of few that knew how to train people to train others. She had no luck though. Her father was to go to the council when it was his time and she was to go when it was hers. Their gifts were too good to pass up. Vanessa was the only half breed that they had ever even considered to be in the council. She wasn't the only half breed but there was only a few. It was hard to get the council to approve someone to tell another that they were an Angel. "Why didn't you tell me that tomorrow was your birthday?"

"As my mother said, I don't think of importance to my birthday."

"Well, we are celebrating today because tomorrow we figured that you would be too busy with everything that you are going to be doing tomorrow." Her mother said when walking back into the kitchen.

"Well, I'm going to have something special for you than tomorrow." Nate put his arm around her and they walked to the couch.

"Vanessa, after dinner and everything, I will need to speak with you alone." Vanessa's father said in all seriousness. She became even more confused. With what Seth's expressions and her father saying that like he did, was she supposed to be worried? She shook it off, if it was anything to worry about, they would have told her already.

They were sitting in the kitchen laughing and talking. Vanessa sat next to Nate and held his hand beneath the table. She couldn't get the thought of the unknown knowledge that Seth and her father have. She needed to know. "Alright, now for our gift to you." Her mother said, a bit too happy for her enjoyment. Her mother was ALWAYS a happy person and it annoyed Vanessa to no extent.

She got out a box from the hall closet. "Like she needed to hide it. I don't care what's in the box." Vanessa thought to herself. The only thing that Vanessa didn't like more than her birthday was her gifts. They were good, yes, but Vanessa never used them. Her mother came over to her and set the box in front of her. The box was about 12x12x12 and had a lid on it. She took the top off and pulled out some tissue paper. Inside was a card and another wrapped box. She took out the card and read it.

**Dear Vanessa,**

**I know you've grown older, I know you've grown wiser, but today is a day to celebrate what has happened in a year's time to you. You have grown and matured in more than one way. You have gotten stronger and you have made improvements. Thank you for trying this time.**

**Love,**

**Your Mother and Father**

Vanessa put the card down pretending that she liked what she read, just for the others to think that she was ok with this. She wasn't though. She never was. She reached down and pulled out the box opened the top. Inside were a book of rules from the council, She knew that she would have to read that; it was a book that she would have to read eventually, a book of fighting and strategies, it was from her father; he always knew that she needed to improve her skills, and a book of… guidance? "Why would they give me this?" Vanessa thought to herself. "It would have to be my mother that gave me this. I'll probably only read it if I'm that board out of my mind and can't train. She thanked them anyway. It put a smile on her mother's face, one even bigger than the one she already had. She put the fighting one on top and then the guidance one next, making sure that the one that she didn't want Nate to see on the bottom.

When they were done, Nate and Vanessa stood up and went to the living room. She still wasn't accustomed to being in there; even after all of the times that she has been there this week. "Hey Vanessa, I know that you feel uncomfortable out here."

"But I need to talk to my father." She still couldn't get her mind off of the fact that her father knew something and was going to tell her but she had to wait.

"It's alright, Vanessa. I won't talk to you about it until later. I know that I said that when everything was done but I'll wait." Vanessa knew exactly what he was getting at. He needed Nate to leave and that it was important. She played it cool though. She agreed to go up to her room and when they were up there, Nate led her to her balcony.

"So, it must be killing you not knowing what your dad wants to tell you."

"How well can you read me? Not even Seth would be able to do that when he knew me for less than a week."

"Well, I can only read what you give me. I know what you're like, on the inside and out. It's hard sometimes but you show your emotions to me more than you know. I don't know why though." They stood there looking out in the darkness of night and Nate finally turned to her to break the disturbing silence. "You are coming to the tournament tomorrow right?"

"Yeah, I don't have anything else planned and I would love to go and cheer you on." She hugged him and a nock came on the door. "Come in!"

The door opened and it was Seth. "Hey Seth, I've been meaning to ask you, how did you like the ring? Lots of people liked you."

"Oh, I liked it. It's neither the worst nor the best that I have ever been to but the people were one of the least stubborn groups of people that I have ever trained."

"That's great. Are you going to the tournament tomorrow? Vanessa said that she would."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world man." He looked at Vanessa and then back at Nate. It was the same look that he had in the truck but didn't have confusion in it this time. It had… pity? Vanessa shrugged it off and listened to the conversation going on between the two in front of her. They were talking about tomorrow. Seth was sure that he was going to win tomorrow and Vanessa rolled her eyes. She knew that he got that information from her father. "Dude, don't doubt yourself. That's how you lose your fight. You will win. I would bet money on it."

"Alright, I will win. But not for me, I just don't want you guys to see me lose. With all the training that you two have given me, I will win with ease." He laughed and put his arm around Vanessa. "So, Do you want me to pick you two up tomorrow or what?"

Instead of Vanessa answering, Seth did. "Vanessa's parents will take us. What time is your first match?" She looked at him wanting to know what was going to happen that Nate couldn't pick them up?

"Well, it's supposed to be at noon. I have to be there at 7am because I have to open the gym up. I don't own the ring but the owner and I have been close friends for years. He gave me a set of keys so that I can go and practice when I want to. There are some nights that I can't sleep so I go there and train."

"Really? Will the owner be there tomorrow?"

"Yeah, but I'm opening it early for some last minute training. He's not a morning person anyway."

Seth nodded in understanding and then looked back at Vanessa and this time she couldn't read his feelings. She knew that he could read hers though. "Well, it's getting late. We will take you back to your place and then we'll see you tomorrow."

"Alright." They all walked to the garage and drove to Nate's house. Seth stayed in the truck and Vanessa walked to Nate's door with Nate. "Hey, Vanessa."

"Hm?" She was staring at the ground and looked up at Nate.

"Something troubling you?"

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just thinking about what my father might tell me."

"Don't worry about it. Your dad seems like a good person and I know you know he is." Nate wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. "I will see you tomorrow. I will win it for you." Vanessa smiled and hugged him back.

"I know. I know that you will win. There is no doubt in my mind that you won't lose." She looked up to him.

"Well, thank you. For the training, I wouldn't be here without it."

"I know, I wouldn't be here in your arms if I didn't. I'll see you tomorrow then." They kissed and Seth started to honk his horn.

"Come on! Let's go!"

Vanessa rolled her eyes and she walked back to the truck. Nate didn't go in until she was in the truck. She watched him go in and they drove off. "So, I take it that you know what my father plans to tell me and what the future in tells?"

"Well, I know up to midnight of tomorrow. He won't tell me more. He only told me so I wouldn't freak out when it happens."

"When WHAT happens? How come I am left in the dark?"

"It's best if you don't know. I can't tell you. Wait until you get home. Your father will tell you what you need to know."

Vanessa was furious. All she knew was that Nate was going to win the tournament. She knew nothing else. She HATED being in the dark and knowing that everyone knew something that she didn't. All she could do right now is wait; that was another thing that she hated, waiting. To Vanessa, the drive back to her house seemed as an eternity. It was more like 10 minutes. It was agony, waiting for the information. It was quite and she knew that Seth didn't talk because if he did, he would tell her everything. She knew that once her father told her the news that she still wouldn't know everything.

They arrived and neither said anything. Vanessa's father was waiting on the couch and when he saw that she came in, he seemed to have stiffened. "NOW! What's sooo important that you told him and not me?"

He looked at Seth. "I didn't tell her. She asked me if you told me what you are going to tell her."

"Why? I know that it is about the Angels. You had to wait until Nate wasn't here to tell me."

"I know, I'm sorry. I had to. I needed him to ask you to go to the match tomorrow. If not, you would have declined. I needed him to think that you were coming."

"WHY? I would have said yes to him if you had just told me! When did you tell Seth? I know you had to have told him before we left from the ring. That's when I could see something different in his eyes."

"Sometimes I wish that I hadn't given you those lessons about reading people's eyes. Anyway, I told him right before he picked you two up from school. He was still a bit confused when he came back and so when you went up to your room, I talked to him and explained it more. Now what I'm about to tell you, you can't get anymore up set ok? There's nothing that you can do about it."

"DO ABOUT WHAT?"

"Well, the council wants to have a meeting with you tomorrow. I already know what it's about because they have told me. I know that you hate them and they have taken that into consideration with the meeting tomorrow. It will start at 5am tomorrow morning and won't end until right before Nate's final fight in the tournament starts."

Vanessa stood there dumbfounded. It was sort of expected. Her life was too good now so they had to come in and fix it. She never liked those meetings and never wanted to go. Several moments of silence were over with before she started to ask more questions. "The end result?"

"Of?"

"The meeting. What will be the end result of that?"

"I… I can't tell you."

"Is it good? bad?"

"I told you, I can't tell you."

"Alright, so you're telling me that I will miss the whole tournament tomorrow?"

"NO, you will see him win his match. Just a few things of advice, hurry when you get out of the meeting, and don't be mad at him. It's not his fault."

"Who? What's not his fault? I need answers! Don't tell me things that you can't finish!"

"I'm sorry." Vanessa took a step back when her father stood up. She then glared at him. Walking up the stairs, her father added, "When you get back tomorrow, be sure that you have a clear head."

She ignored him. And ran the rest of the up the stairs. He knew what this type of thing did to her. She slammed the door and went to her balcony. She knew that she would need sleep for tomorrow but she didn't feel like it. She was too angry at everything to sleep. She stepped off her balcony to the roof and she heard Seth come outside and she watched as he sat on the tire swing. "Stupid! Didn't you think that your father could see you leave?" She cursed herself mentally. She was stuck and so she went back to her balcony and sat on the railing. Thoughts of the next day were flashing in her mind. Vanessa had to clear her mind and so she sat on the floor of her balcony and started to meditate. She saw Nate. He was pacing in what she assumed was his room. He was worried about something. She couldn't stand it anymore and she opened her eyes. Her father was meditating beside her. "How did you get here?"

"From outside, what do you think? Now it's my turn to ask you a question. What did you see?"

"When?"

"Just now. When you were meditating."

"Um. I saw Nate. He was pacing back and forth. It looked like what I think is his bedroom."

"Interesting. Has this happened before?"

"Only once or twice. It happened at the ring too."

"Hm." He sat there in thought.

"What?"

"Nothing." He stood and went out her bedroom door.

"What was that all about?" She thought to herself. She got up and lied down on her bed with her hands behind her head. She closed her eyes and stayed like that until she felt the cold breeze come through her still open door. She stood and walked over to her window. "Tomorrow isn't going to be a good day. I can feel it." She closed the balcony doors and went to sleep on her bed. She woke up many times that night, having bad dreams about the events of like the council meeting being about her being forced into the council and Nate getting seriously injured tomorrow haunted her dreams. It was hard but she managed to get a whole 4 hours of sleep that night.

**Little did Vanessa know that the events of tomorrow were going to mess with her mind more than everything that has happened the past few days. And what was with the visions that she was having and why did her father seem concerned for her? Stay tuned and Review.**


	10. Nate's view Day 5

Chapter 10 (Nate's view)

Nate woke up in his bed and saw the time. It was 3:45. He sighed and then thought what happened the night before. A smile came across his face and he slowly got out of bed. He needed a shower and when he was done, he got dressed. He dressed from down up and as soon as he put his plain black t-shirt, he heard Seth pull up in his driveway. He put his shoes on and grabbed his bag. He went downstairs and saw Seth sitting on his couch. "Hey."

"Hey, are you ready?"

"Yeah." Nate didn't know what to say. He didn't know if he should tell him now or wait to tell him when Vanessa was next to him.

"What is it?"

"What's what?"

"You are contemplating something and I can also tell that you want to say something."

"Well, Something happened."

"She said yes didn't she?"

Nate wondered how he knew but remembered that he had told him what Veronica had told him. He assumed that he put two and two together. "Yes." He watched as Seth nodded in approval.

"Good for you. How did it all happen?"

"Well, I got visited by Veronica again yesterday. She helped me, guided me, so that Vanessa would think about it and I put all in a small box on her porch. I called her up an hour later and then she said yes."

"Wow. So what are you going to do now?"

"I have no Idea. I'm going to see how she wants it to be like and then I'll see what to do then."

"Well, since you were visited by Veronica, I should tell you that I was visited by Conner." Nate had to think a bit but soon got who he was talking about. He became on edge knowing that Veronica had said not to talk about him. "He said that Veronica was coming home today. He also said that she would have a surprise with her. Do you know what that surprise is?" Nate nodded. "Can you say or did she say not to say anything?"

"I can't say."

"Oh, well we better get going. The sooner we get there, the sooner we'll know."

"Yeah." Nate picked up his bag and followed Seth to his truck. It didn't take long for them to get to her house and he looked at the time. It was 4:15. When they got out of the truck, Vanessa walked into the garage. Nate suddenly became nervous and as he walked around the truck, he smiled. "Don't be like that, I told you that I would try it out, I didn't say that I would pound your face in the next time I saw you." She walked over to them and leaned on the wall. Nate became more confident and went over to her, putting his arm around her. They all walked together into the house and headed for the kitchen. He looked at Vanessa and she was looking around franticly for something. He put his arm down ready to do something. "What is it?"

"There's no note."

"What?" "Was there supposed to be a note?" Nate became really confused.

"You heard me, there's no note. Usually, my mother leaves a note for the next day." He watched as she looked between him and Seth.

"It's alright, your mother's fine." She looked at Seth when he spoke.

"Fine, so you have contacted her too?" Not only did Nate become a little nervous but he saw that Seth was too. He knew what was going to happen but he didn't know when and wanted to say something. Before he got a chance to, he heard the front door open. He looked over to it and saw Veronica. Within a blink of an eye, he saw Vanessa run over to her mother and hug her. It was then that he saw someone else walk through the door. It was Vanessa's father. Seth walked over to Nate and crossed his arms.

"Was this the surprise?" Nate nodded. "Nice."

"Yeah." They walked over to the others and smiled at Vanessa.

"Where have you been? You left me without any knowledge on where you were going or when you were coming back."

"I asked her to leave. I needed her help." Nate was a little surprised at his surroundings but he accepted it. He watched as Vanessa stopped hugging her mother and went to her father. It was several minutes later that she stopped hugging her father. Nate and Seth started talking to Veronica. "So, do you think that you're ready?"

"For what?"

"Dating my daughter, the tournament tomorrow, everything."

"Yeah, I think so. How did you know about the tournament?"

Veronica looked at Seth. "Ahh, he told you." Veronica nodded.

"Am I missing something?" Nate noticed that she was confused about how everyone was. "Did my parents?"

Nate thought about what she was asking and knew that it was if they helped him a little bit. "Yes." He felt a little ashamed and that she might be a bit mad at him and so he put his head down looking ashamed. It was silent for a bit and so he whispered, "I'm sorry."

Vanessa started to laugh and when Nate lifted his head in confusion, she wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug. He wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged back. Nate heard everyone silently leave the room into the kitchen. . "You don't have to be sorry. I'm glad they did that." He kissed her check and let go of her. Everyone was in the kitchen preparing breakfast for everyone. He was a little surprised at the proportions that were being made. He had seen Seth eat a lot but this was even more. Seth and Vanessa's father were almost inhaling the food. He felt Vanessa grab his hand and then lead him to the breakfast. It was French toast and cookies. He grabbed some and she let go of his hands as she lead him up to her room. He heard Vanessa's father yell up to them. "Now, don't have too much fun you two." He was probably joking but he couldn't help but blush at the thought. They got in her room and went to her balcony. They both sat on the table and started eating. The sun was just barely coming up.

He noticed Vanessa finished first and so as he started on the last of his cookies he tried to make some sort of conversation. "So…" He started to think of what he was going to do and started wondering about last night. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you say yes?"

"I don't know. I guess…" She paused and it made him think on what she was going to say. "I guess that I decided to give you a chance."

He knew that it was a lie but couldn't think of a reason for her to lie. He smirked and then finished her cookie. "You don't expect me to believe that do you? You were totally against it 24 hours ago." She stood and hopped over the rails onto the roof. Nate stood and leaned against the railing in front of her. "Are you going to tell me?" She stood right in front of him and the only thing that was separating them was the railing. She kissed his cheek and then ran off on to the tree. He was a little shocked but then thought about it. He sat on the railing knowing that he couldn't go after her. . "Was that your answer?" He yelled but got no answer from her. He rolled his eyes and grabbed his last cookie. He started to think about the kiss. He felt a small shock and remembered the first kiss. There was a shock there too. He didn't know if she felt it but now that he thought about it, he was starting to like it.

He heard the doors to the room open but didn't turn around and knew that it was Vanessa. She walked up to the railings and looked out to the mountains. "It's beautiful isn't it? Sometimes I sit here and just watch it." Nate turned to look at her. She got up on the railings and he put his arm around her. "I'm glad that they haven't disturbed the beauty of nature. Humans can be so stupid with what is most precious." He noticed the way that she said humans but didn't think much about it. Sometimes he used it like that. He didn't like what most other people do sometimes. They sat there looking in each other's eyes and he couldn't help but get lost in her eyes. He leaned in and kissed her. It wasn't like all of the others. This one had meaning to it and he felt the spark that was there with all of the other ones. When the kiss ended, he looked at the time and it was time that they needed to leave for school. They got off the railing and Vanessa grabbed her bag. They went down the stairs and went to the garage. He waited at the door to the garage as Vanessa talked to her mother. When she turned to leave, he started to the truck and she did too. They took off for school and he noticed that the vibe in the truck was different. Vanessa didn't even ask if she had to go to school.

When they got there, Seth looked at both Nate and Vanessa. "So, how are you going to breaks those little girl's hearts?"

Vanessa laughed. "Like this." And with that, she got out of the truck. Nate did too and she winked at him. She then went to his side and grabbed his hand and rested her head on his shoulder. Nate smirked and they started walking. As the girls saw them, some stood in shock and others still went up to him. He knew that Vanessa would get them to leave and she didn't hesitate. When they got to class, Nate noticed the look that Cassandra was giving Vanessa. Truth be told, he knew that she had a right to be jealous of Vanessa when they were dating but he was glad that he got away from her and was now with Vanessa. The only thing that worried him was if Cassandra messes with Vanessa. She would be in the hospital for days. They both sat down and still holding hands. The bell rang and he noticed the faces on the girls that won't be bothering him anymore.

"Alright class, today is Friday and so all of today I will give you to complete the weekly packet and after class, you will put the packet in this bin." He held up the bin. . They both seemed to notice when Mr. Sy had changed his demeanor. "Nate? Get a girl? These girls seemed so sad and they are paying attention to me."

"Yes Sir. Vanessa and I are together."

"Vanessa?"

"Yes Sir?"

"You are aware that when Nate dates a girl he means it right, you will also have to be aware of the girls that still will try to get to him and ignore you right?" Nate couldn't help but smirk. It had already happened and he knew that they wouldn't be a problem.

"Yes, Mr. Sy, I am aware of those facts. I will not stand down if someone tries to get to him, nor am I the jealous type." That made Nate smirk even more. It was more directed as an insult towards Cassandra more than anything. Mr. Sy nodded and then dismissed the class to work on their packet. Nate got his out and noticed that he had about half of it done. He looked back at Vanessa and was shocked when she started answering all of the questions and then handed it to him. He started to check his own answers and then copied the others. When he got done, he looked back at Vanessa and saw that she was zoned out. Her drawings were amazing with so much detail but she wasn't looking at them or anything. The bell soon rang and he stood, grabbing her hand. She looked up at him. "Was I zoned out that long?" She looked at her paper.

"Yeah, I didn't want to pull you from your thoughts. You seemed to be in deep thought. Did you know that you draw fantastic doodles when you zone out?"

"Hm. Usually I draw an actual picture. My drawings say what I'm thinking most of the time when I zone out."

"I guess you were all over the place when you were thinking. Nothing on that paper is alike." She looked down again at her paper. He waited as she packed up her stuff and walked her to her class. When they got to the class room, he stopped her and kissed her on her cheek. They smiled at each other and left. He started walking down the hall and he saw Scotty walking down the hall. "Hey! Scotty."

"Oh, hey." Scotty went over to him and did a bro hug. "So I am hearing some rumors about you hooking up with someone. Don't tell me you got back with Cassandra."

Nate was a little shocked that he automatically assumed that it was Cassandra. "No, I'm actually with Vanessa."

Scotty seemed to be a little socked and somewhat disappointed. He wondered why but didn't bother asking. "Wow. I didn't know that you two were like that. Is that why she would train you?"

"I don't know. I did ask her why she said that she would go out with me but she didn't really give me a straight answer."

"Well, I'm glad that she finally has gotten out of her seclusion bubble for someone." They started walking to their next class and Nate couldn't help but feel that he had some type of feelings for her. "See you later."

"Yeah man. Later." They went their separate ways and then went to class. The next hours went by as they did when he was in a relationship with Cassandra. Some girls came up to him and flirted with him but he shot them down and he hadn't seen Vanessa since first hour. When lunch came around, he started walking to the gates and he saw some of his friends talking. "Hey."

"Nate!" They said simultaneously. "Sup bro?"

"Oh, just gunna go to lunch."

"I heard about your new girl."

"Yeah, she's something."

"Is she like Cassandra? Controlling and all?"

"No, she's the almost exact opposite of Cassandra. She's not all talk. She actually lets most of her actions do most of her talking for her."

"So how do you think that you will do tomorrow at the tournament?"

Nate noticed that they all seemed to look in the same direction. He saw Scotty come around from behind him. He didn't look back because that's who they all seemed to be looking at. Well, I'm going to win. I've been trained by some really good people and I've been getting better. "And so I will win the tournament tomorrow."

"No doubt. With the things that I have taught you, there would be no competition." Vanessa said as she wrapped her arm around him and going to his side. He was shocked at her sudden appearance behind him. "Hey Vanessa, how long have you been standing there?"

The guys that were around them were laughing. "She's been there since Scotty came." One of the guys pointed out.

Nate kissed Vanessa and she turned her head so that he would only kiss her cheek. She giggled and then let go of Nate. He was also a little surprised at that but said bye to his friends and then left towards Vanessa. When she stopped, he grabbed her hand. "Why did you do that?" He was honestly a little sad that she did that. "Did she not want me to kiss her?"

"Please, if I didn't then they would have gone crazy. Besides, I'm not in favor of public displays of affection just because of friends." Seth pulled up and they both got in.

"Where to?"

"Vanessa's place, where else?"

"I don't know, I just thought that you two would change things now that you're together." Both Vanessa and Nate started to laugh.

"No, I don't think that change would be the best. I like it the way things are. I don't think that change is necessary right now." Vanessa said. "Besides, my father's home isn't he?" Seth said nothing. His face didn't even change. "Isn't he?"

"Yea, your father is home, and your mother is making lunch right now. She asked if you two were going to come home but I didn't know. Your father though." He paused. Nate didn't mind and rationalized in his mind that it was only because he was thinking. "Your father had a hunch that you two might go home." He looked back at Nate.

"I thought so. Anyway, what is my mother making for lunch?"

"Well, she's making burgers and she bought loads of chips and stuff."

"Sounds good." They road to Vanessa's and parked the truck in her garage. Vanessa walked in holding hands with Nate and Seth went in front of them. "Hey mom."

"Hello sweetie, lunch will be done in 10. I still need to finish cooking Seth's and your father's."

"Alright, well be in my room if you need us."

Nate began to think that she might fall asleep like she did the previous days. When they got into her room, Vanessa put her bag down and he put his bags right beside hers. He wrapped his arms around her and whispered "were not in public."

She immediately turned in his embrace and kissed him. The door to the room was open and Vanessa's father walked by. "Ahem." He cleared his throat. They parted and she blushed. "It's alright. It's not like I didn't see it coming." He started to blush. Her father smirked and then went down stairs.

Vanessa walked to her balcony and Nate followed. They stood in silence but Vanessa was in Nate's arms so she didn't want to change the moment. They looked out into the mountains. "You know, I never get tired of this view." Vanessa looked back at Nate.

"Me neither and I have lived here for a month."

"Really? A month? I thought that you only moved in last week."

"No, my mother agreed to let me have some time off of school. The last school that I went to, I went there for two days." They both laughed. It once again quieted down and they stood there. "Lunch."

"What?"

She grabbed Nate's hand and went down stairs. Lunch was ready and Vanessa fixed herself a few burgers and got a few bags of chips. Nate made himself a burger and decided that he was going to share with Vanessa some of her chips. They went into the living room and sat down. They sat on the love seat and the others sat on the couch. The baseball game was on and so he was almost glued to the tv. He was eating and Vanessa had put the chips on her lap and he ate some. The gamewas almost over but he and Vanessa had to get back to school. They both went up to her room to grab their things but he turned her around and hissed her. When the kiss broke, he smirked. "Because it's not in public." He knew that it would be the last time that he could do that until school was over with.

They went down stairs and Seth was already heading out the garage door. "Have a nice day sweetie." Vanessa's mother said as they also left through the door.

Once they were in the truck and heading off, Nate decided that it was as good as a time as any to ask them about the ring. "I have a question for the both of you." Seth and Vanessa looked at him. "Would you two like to come with me afterschool to the ring with me? I fought there yesterday and I helped the people there. I was wondering if you two would like to do the same." Seth looked back at Vanessa.

If Nate didn't know better, he would say that they were communicating telepathically. After it seemed that they came to a conclusion, Vanessa turned around. "Yes, we will go with you to the ring."

"Thanks. I had a problem talking to a few people yesterday saying what they were doing wrong." They arrived and Nate and Vanessa got out of the truck. They walked around until the first bell rang. They then walked to Vanessa's next class. Vanessa still had to intimidate a few other girls but he didn't mind. He was glad that she wasn't letting other girls fall all over him. When the bell rang, they went their separate ways. In his next few hours, he could barely pay attention to anything that the teachers were going over. All he could think of was the ring and Vanessa. When the final bell rang, saying that school was over, he went straight to the parking lot. His friends were already there, like they were at lunch, and Seth was pulling up. He walked over to where Seth was parked and motioned him out of the truck. He complied and followed Nate.

Before they got to his friends, Seth stopped him. "Hey, just to let you know, Vanessa was a little hesitant in agreeing to train others. She doesn't really do this stuff."

"Yeah, I could tell. I'll make sure that she won't regret it."

They met up with his friends and Nate started introducing his friends to Seth. They were talking about fighting when Nate noticed that Seth started looking behind him. He turned around to see Vanessa walking to them. "Hey Vanessa, I was just introducing Seth to my buddies." He went over to her and put his arm around her. He whispered in her ear. "We'll, be off soon. I know that you don't like them." She chuckled at his words. He had been able to start reading her actions better. He noticed that it was so much easier when they got together and she started to open up to him.

They walked back to Seth and the others and Seth was talking to the others about fighting techniques. "Well, why don't we go to the ring and we could try them out there. It's a better place than here. They might think that we are actually fighting here." Nate said smiling.

"Agreed." Seth said then they turned to the truck. "Hey, Nate, where is it that we are going?"

"Oh, the ring is on the corner of East and Jules street." They got in and when they left, Nate's friend followed them to the ring. The ride was short and no words were spoken. When they arrived, they parked in front and the followers parked next to them. They all got out and went inside. "Seth, you know how Vanessa was coaching me the first day, telling me what I was doing wrong, I would like you to do that over in the fighting ring. All of the fights are in there and I will be in there after I'm done looking around."

"Alright. Where's the ring?"

"It's down the hall and you can't miss it." Seth nodded his head and went down the hallway. Still holding hands, he led her to the security office. It had computers everywhere and they seemed to be showing what was going on everywhere in the building. He thought how he was going to explain what he knew to her.

"Vanessa, I know that you don't like people or training others. I also know that you only agreed to do this if you are with me at all times."

"Ok, Seth told you?"

"Well, sort of. I put two and two together and got the conclusion. I'm glad that I got it right. There was another thing that I thought about it but I knew that it was highly unlikely." When he had thought about what Seth had said, he came up with two conclusions. One, that she only agreed to it if she stayed by him. Two, she would only do it if she fought the competitors. He knew that se didn't like to fight where there was no challenge and so he went with the first one. "We will be in the proving grounds. It's much like the ring but this is only training. Not necessarily an actual fight. We will be on the side lines telling them what they are doing wrong." He then pointed to one of the screens. "There is where we are going." It had a fighting ring in it but it wasn't as big as the other one and there were many other things in the room. Only a few people were in the room and that's why he put her there. "There is where people go when they are waiting for their fight to be next in line. It's not much like your training, but remember; they aren't as good as me." He said that last part with a cocky grin on his face. None of them were as good as him, especially with the training that Vanessa had given him. He didn't expect it but he felt Vanessa's arms wrap around his neck and she kissed him. Even though, he wasn't expecting it, because it was technically in public, he didn't oppose. When Vanessa pulled back, breaking the kiss, she grabbed his hand and walked out the room.

"Show me the way." He smiled and guided her through the building. They finally arrived and he looked around. There were different people in there now. There were only still 4 or 5 people in the room though so he was glad. Nate led her to the bench that looked on the fighters. It was eye level with them and he noticed that they were all looking at Vanessa. He knew what they were thinking. 'She's only a girl. What's she doing here?' He smirked knowing that they were in for a surprise. He knew that this had to get going so he put himself as the one in charge. He knew how to run these things and he quickly came up with a plan. He looked at the ones that were about to fight with authority and they didn't question it. "Fighting stances!" Nate yelled as though he were the ref in the match. He whispered to Vanessa that she could call them out whenever she wanted and tell them what to fix. The two in the ring started to get in their stance. The two seemed total opposites of each other. He knew that she would fix the ones that were stereo typical but he didn't know how. He noticed as Vanessa started to check their fighting stances out. She had looked at him and he nodded. He knew she was asking him if she could go and interfere with the fighters. He watched as she got down from the seat they were sitting on and go to the fighters. He watched as she examined the fighters and fix one of them. He didn't expect the stance that she told the guy but when he thought about it, she probably wouldn't have given any of her secrets away and just come up with new ones as she went. When she got out of the ring, he had expected her to come and sit with him again but instead, she went up to the second floor, all it was technically, was a balcony that went all the way around the room. He knew that now it would be a lot easier to carry out his plan now that she was up there. When he saw that she was now moving around on the balcony and not just climbing, he yelled out "First move!" They both moved and stopped once they finished their first move.

It went as he knew it would. He looked up at Vanessa, knowing that she would want to comment on what had just happened. He nodded and then focused back on the ring in front of him. It was silent for a minute and he knew that she was thinking over what had happened. "Blue!" He snickered. She had decided on calling them on what color shirt they were wearing. "When demonstrating your first move, you didn't account for his new stance. With that, you were left wide open after your first attack. Black! I am glad to see that you had blocked the move but when you went on the offensive, you were left open when you landed. If we hadn't stopped, Blue could have easily gotten you to the ground if he had thought about it." Nate was impressed on what she had pointed out. He replayed the first move in his head and what she had said was dead on. He looked up at her and smiled. She had signaled that she was done and so he turned to the fighters and yelled out "Next move and finish." He listened to the things that Vanessa started to yell at the fighters and was glad that she moved herself up there. When the fighters time was up, Nate told them to leave and another group came in. He told them to stop as they were getting in their fighting positions. He then went up to Vanessa and whispered to her that she can take charge and start calling. They repeated the process and Vanessa started calling out directions as Nate did before. She was still walking around and Nate went back down to the seat. He was proud of her. He was actually retraining her on how to train "commoners" as she put it. Many matches went by and Nate looked at the clock. He needed to check on everything. He was glad that they were waiting for the next match and so she was just sitting against the wall on the second floor. He stood and left. He saw the new guys approaching and told them that there was his girlfriend that was going to run everything through it. They nodded and he left. He felt a little bad that he left Vanessa but knew that she would be busy for a while so she wouldn't notice that he was gone. First he went to the different training rooms making sure that everything was good and running. If it wasn't, he wrote it down and when he got to the front desk. When he got done with that, it was almost closing time and so he went to the fighting ring to check up on Seth.

"Hey, I thought that you were with Vanessa."

"Yeah, she's busy. She didn't even notice that I left. I know, I will get her wrath but I needed to check up on everything."

"I understand." They turned around and watched them fight. Seth wasn't hesitant in putting in his two cents on what they were doing wrong. Nate realized that some of the fighters weren't listening to Vanessa or taking what she said seriously and saw them change demeanors when Seth had told them probably the something that Vanessa told them. He decided that he should go around to the other fighters, that weren't fighting, and ask what they thought of Seth and Vanessa. Most had said that they liked the help. Others were complaining that it was a girl that was 'helping' them with fighting. He responded to them by saying, "Well, if you don't like to be shown up by a girl in fighting, you better get better. Oh, and by the way, that's my girlfriend." When he said that, some seemed shocked, still thinking that he was with Cassandra and others gave him a guy hug saying congratz. He then went back to Seth with a grin on his face.

It was time for the last fight. They got in the ring and Nate looked at the time. There was still plenty of time for this fight but he said that there was none after this one. He didn't realize when he said that, it meant that Vanessa wouldn't have anyone coming to her for a fight. The ref started the fight and it went on for a good 30 minutes with the two gaining and losing the upper hand on each other. Seth had nudged him and Nate turned to see what Seth wanted him to. Vanessa was walking to them. "Hey. I forgot to tell you that the closing time here was 6 and that this was the last fight. I'm sorry that I left. I needed to check up on other things. I came in here and started talking to Nate and the others that fought. They really liked the two of you and appreciate that you two helped them." He hugged Vanessa and walked over to Seth holding Vanessa's hand.

"Hey Vanessa, this is our last fight and then everyone will leave. Nate said that we could stay and fight though."

"Really? Alright, I will fight you and then Nate." Nate was happy, she wasn't angry at all. They all turned back to the fight that was going on and he noticed that not only did Seth put in his two cents but Vanessa did too. He noticed that she was tired and could understand why. He watched as she went and sat down on the bench. He decided to go and sit next to her and she put her head down on his shoulder and closed her eyes. When he felt her heart beat slow down and become constant, he decided to put her where no one would bother her. He picked her up and then went to the security room. He set her on the black leather chair and put a pillow under her head. He smiled. It was times like this that he liked. Not that he liked her sleeping but the times that were silent and the silence spoke more than words could ever say. He left and closed the door quietly behind him. He then went back to the ring and saw the clock. "Alright, everyone listen up. I will be opening the ring up at 8am for you that want to train before the tournament. It will start at 8 tomorrow so get up bright and early. For now, go home and get some rest." They all knew that what he was saying was to get out of here but in a nice way. It didn't take long for them all to leave though. Nate told Seth to sit at the front desk and watch the computer screen for anyone that might be up to something. Seth did that and Nate began to go through the rooms and lock up.

He started with the main ring and then worked his way out from there and locked all of the equipment up. When he was done, he went to the security office to get Vanessa but was surprised at the fact that she wasn't there. He went to the lobby to see if she was there and was relieved to see her sitting criss-cross on the floor and Seth sitting at the desk watching the computer. "Well, I guess that you heard him coming down the hall." Nate smiled and went to Vanessa.

"Hey. I know that you would have wanted to get woken up but I figured that you needed to sleep. Because you didn't sleep when you were home for lunch and right after school, you went here and so you didn't get any sleep."

"Thank you." Vanessa hugged him. "Home?"

"Yes, I will take you home." Nate hugged a bit tighter before he let go of her. Seth was already walking out the door.

"Come on you two love birds, I'm leaving." Nate laughed but Vanessa stuck her tongue out at him, which made Nate laugh even more. She turned to him.

"What?"

"That was mature."

"I'm glad I taught you something new today." She giggled and went to the truck. They all got in and Nate noticed that there was something going on between Seth and Vanessa. . "What?"

"Nothing." Watching the exchange between them was different to say the least. Nate didn't know Seth long but Nate saw a flash of concern in Seth's eyes. Seth turned to the road and started driving.

When they arrived at Vanessa's house, it was 7pm. When they all walked through the door, Nate could smell turkey. He started to wonder what they were celebrating. Before he could ask, Vanessa did. . "What's the occasion?"

Her mother answered. "Well, we have a few things to celebrate today. The arrival of your father, your relationship, oh, and I know that you don't seem to care about tomorrow but."

She was cut off by Seth. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot. It's your birthday tomorrow."

Nate stood shocked. "It's her birthday? TOMORROW? Why didn't she tell me? I don't have anything planned and the tournaments tomorrow." Vanessa snapped her fingers in his face to get him back on earth and out of his thoughts. "Why didn't you tell me that tomorrow was your birthday?"

"As my mother said, I don't think of importance to my birthday." Nate thought that that was bazaar. He knew that she wasn't one of the more 'normal' people but not liking your birthday?

"Well, we are celebrating today because tomorrow we figured that you would be too busy with everything that you are going to be doing tomorrow." Vanessa's mother said when walking back into the kitchen.

"Well, I'm going to have something special for you than tomorrow." Nate put his arm around her and they walked to the couch.

"Vanessa, after dinner and everything, I will need to speak with you alone." Vanessa's father said in all seriousness. He didn't know what it was about but seeing her father be that serious he knew that it was really important and not to be taken lightly.

They were sitting in the kitchen laughing and talking. Nate sat next to Vanessa and held her hand beneath the table. He knew that Vanessa was bothered by something and it bothered him that he didn't know what it was and couldn't fix it. "Alright, now for our gift to you." Veronica said as she stood from her spot at the table. Nate let go of Vanessa's hand as Veronica came over with a box that had wrapping on it. When Vanessa started to open it, Nate watched as he saw a card and another box. Vanessa took out the card and read it to herself. Nate wasn't going to ask what was on it knowing that it was something personal and she didn't want to share. When she put the card down, he knew she was pretending that she liked it. When Vanessa opened the smaller box, Nate saw the makings of three large books. And in and a half was the smallest. He noticed that the biggest book was put on the bottom. He didn't see the title of that one but he did see the title of the one on top. It was a book of fighting and strategies. He knew that she would read that one. He would even ask to read that one. Vanessa thanked her parents.

When they were all one with dinner, Nate and Vanessa were the first ones to leave an go to the living room. "Hey Vanessa, I know that you feel uncomfortable out here." He remembered her saying something about that when he first was in her room.

"But I need to talk to my father."

"It's alright, Vanessa. I won't talk to you about it until later. I know that I said that when everything was done but I'll wait." Nate was glad but knew that it would bother Vanessa more now that she had to wait even longer.

Vanessa and Nate then went up to her room and he led her to her balcony. "So, it must be killing you not knowing what your dad wants to tell you."

"How well can you read me? Not even Seth would be able to do that when he knew me for less than a week."

"Well, I can only read what you give me. I know what you're like, on the inside and out. It's hard sometimes but you show your emotions to me more than you know. I don't know why though." They stood there looking out in the darkness of night and Nate finally turned to her to break the disturbing silence. "You are coming to the tournament tomorrow right?"

"Yeah, I don't have anything else planned and I would love to go and cheer you on." She hugged him and a nock came on the door. "Come in!"

The door opened and it was Seth. "Hey Seth, I've been meaning to ask you, how did you like the ring? Lots of people liked you."

"Oh, I liked it. It's neither the worst nor the best that I have ever been to but the people were one of the least stubborn groups of people that I have ever trained."

"That's great. Are you going to the tournament tomorrow? Vanessa said that she would."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world man." He looked at Vanessa and then back at Nate. Nate saw the same look that Seth had in the truck as they were going home from the ring. It was different though but he couldn't tell what. "I know that you'll win."

"Really? I don't think so, even with all of the training that you two have gone through, there might be someone that's better than me."

"Dude, don't doubt yourself. That's how you lose your fight. You will win. I would bet money on it."

"Alright, I will win. But not for me, I just don't want you guys to see me lose. With all the training that you two have given me, I will win with ease." He laughed and put his arm around Vanessa. "So, do you want me to pick you two up tomorrow or what?"

Instead of Vanessa answering, Seth did. "Vanessa's parents will take us. What time is your first match?"

"Well, it's supposed to be at noon. I have to be there at 7am because I have to open the gym up. I don't own the ring but the owner and I have been close friends for years. He gave me a set of keys so that I can go and practice when I want to. There are some nights that I can't sleep so I go there and train."

"Really? Will the owner be there tomorrow?"

"Yeah, but I'm opening it early for some last minute training. He's not a morning person anyway."

Seth nodded in understanding and then looked back at Vanessa. Nate looked at her too. She seemed a little worried now. He didn't know why but he wished that he could stop it. "Well, it's getting late. We will take you back to your place and then we'll see you tomorrow."

"Alright." They all walked to the garage and drove to Nate's house. Seth stayed in the truck and Vanessa walked to Nate's door with Nate. "Hey, Vanessa."

"Hm?" She was staring at the ground and looked up at Nate.

"Something troubling you?"

"Oh, it's nothing. I'm just thinking about what my father might tell me."

"Don't worry about it. Your dad seems like a good person and I know you know he is." Nate wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. "I will see you tomorrow. I will win it for you." Vanessa smiled and hugged him back.

"I know. I know that you will win. There is no doubt in my mind that you won't lose." She looked up to him.

"Well, thank you. For the training, I wouldn't be here without it."

"I know; I wouldn't be here in your arms if I didn't. I'll see you tomorrow then." They kissed and Seth started to honk his horn.

"Come on! Let's go!" He saw Vanessa roll her eyes and she walked back to Seth's truck. Nate didn't go in until she was in the truck. He went in and saw them drive off. He smiled to himself. Today had been a really good day. All he needed to do now was think of something to get Vanessa for her birthday tomorrow. Despite her not liking her birthday, he was going to get her something. He went to his kitchen and saw that he still needed to get to the store for food. He wasn't that hungry but he needed to get something to drink. Nate looked around and decided that he would go to the local store and get a few sodas and then come back.

He was walking in the store when he saw the last person that he need right now, Cassandra. She didn't seem to notice him as she walked passed him and when he was about to thank the lords that she didn't see him, she turned around and started walking next to him. "Hey, haven't seen you in a while."

"What do you want?"

"Oh, come on. You can't be serious? You can't just turn me away that quickly."

"Oh really? Watch me." He started walking faster but she caught up to him.

"Don't be like that."

"Why shouldn't I? I want nothing to do with you."

"And all because of that stupid witch. Ever since she walked in to our lives, she has flipped it upside down."

He turned around to her. "Our lives? No, There is no our any more. Haven't you gotten it through your head yet? We have been over for a few days now."

"But you don't really mean that. I know that if that little whore didn't come into your life, we would still be together."

"No, there was a reason that I broke it off with you and she was only a part of it. I had wanted to break it off for a while because of your jealousy. I couldn't stand it. She just gave me a way out. Now, you leave me alone."

"I'm going to the tournament tomorrow. You can't ban me from that because I haven't technically done anything that can ban me from the ring."

Nate was walking down the isle of the drinks and grabbed a few. He tried to think of anything that she had done that he could ban her from it tomorrow but he couldn't. He sighed in defeat and turned to her. "No, I can't ban you from it but don't come near me. I do warn you that Vanessa will be there and wouldn't be afraid to put you in your place."

"Hiding behind that Bitch? Well, ok, but I'm not afraid of her either."

"Only because you don't listen to me. Don't you dare follow me home either."

"Ok." Cassandra skipped away happily and Nate sighed again. He didn't want her to be there but he couldn't do anything about it. He paid for his things and went home. He became even more tired as he went into the kitchen and put the drinks into the fridge. He didn't even think about the drinks and he just went up to his room. He didn't know why but he started to pace back and forth. He was thinking about tomorrow, about Vanessa, and about what Cassandra might have planned. He didn't like it one bit and knew that she had something planned. Before he could get into much detail about tomorrow, he fell on his bed and let sleep come over him. He needed it if he was to do good and win tomorrow.


	11. Vanessa's view Day 6

Chapter 11 (Vanessa's view)

Her sleep wasn't good at all. She woke up many times through the night and when it was 4am, her father knocked on her door. She had been lying on her bed for a while and was awake. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm up. I'll start to get ready for the meeting."

"Hold on. I have an outfit for you. Your mother picked it out. It is an important meeting and you need something nice."

"Fine." She got up and walked to her door. She knew that if she opened the door and saw the outfit, it would be reality and she would actually have to go through it. She slowly opened the door to see her father holding a hanger with a shirt and a skirt. It looked decent enough. She took it from him and noticed the look in his eyes. She tried to ignore it but it started to get inscribed in her mind. She closed the door before either she or her father would say anything. The skirt was a floor length black fishtail type skirt that had a slit up to her mid thy. The top was a black steampunk overbust jacket corset that had a black cape attached to it. She did her hair up in a half princess crown braid with the bottom part of her hair loose and flowy. It all took her 45 minutes and when she came out of her room to meet with her parents, her mother was cooking breakfast and her father was sitting at the table making conversation with her mother. Her father stopped talking when he felt Vanessa's presents. He looked at the opening of the room where Vanessa was.

"Wow, you look beautiful darling."

Her mother turned from the food that she was cooking and looked at Vanessa. "Oh." She went up to Vanessa and hugged her. "I knew that I picked out the right things when I saw them on the rack. Now. You need to eat before you leave. She made Vanessa sit down at the table and her mother started to fill her plate up with French toast and eggs. The thing that she liked most that was on her plate was the bacon. Vanessa didn't like what she had to go through for the next few hours but she had no choice. She started eating and when she was done, she had to leave. When she was getting into her truck, her mother ran out to the garage. "Vanessa! Stop."

"What? I need to leave."

"I almost forgot to give you your necklace that Nate got you."

Truth be told, Vanessa forgot all about the necklace. Her mother also gave her a bracelet to wear in case the necklace failed to work or broke off. Her husband told her that it would be for the best. Vanessa smiled and gave her old necklace to her mother and put on the bracelet and the new necklace. "Thanks." She closed the door to her truck and drove off.

She drove to her mountain and then flew to the Angels tower. It wasn't that far from her mountain and it was because of her father that it was that way. She took off her necklace and bracelet and put them in her truck. She took a deep breath as she felt her wings spread. She started to fly to the Angel tower and when she got there, she walked proudly down the halls. They opened the doors for her as she entered the meeting hall. It was like a throne room only it had many 'thrones' in it and it was all in an arc. In the middle of the room was a table that projected a holographic image of the building. "Morning Lady Vanessa. How are you this morning?"

Vanessa couldn't help but frown at the question. They knew how much she hated this place and having to be in here for the next few hours wasn't all that fantastic. She couldn't speak her mind though. This was one of the few places that she had to hold her tongue. "It hasn't been that eventful but I'm willing to bet that you are going to change that."

"Yes. We have lots of matters to discuss. The first regarding your birthday. We all know it's today and so we decided that you should get something to bring home with you." The lead councilman pushed a button and someone came in with a small box. She took it and opened it. Inside was a hair clip in the shape of an angel wing. It was their symbol. She nodded in acceptance. "Well, let's get on to other business shall we?"

"Yes."

"Aren't you in a rush?"

"I'm sorry but I have something really important to do after this."

"It's alright, But we do need to get things along. I heard of your new boyfriend."

"Your concern?"

"You know as well as I do our concern. You have been with him how long?"

"Approximately 2 days."

"You know our policy on non-Angels right?"

"Yes, I do. Mind you that I am half Angel as well. I have been told these rules and read them more than I need to. As you remember sir, my power is a photographic memory."

"Yes. I remember well. This leads me to the next point." He turned to one of the other councilmen.

The councilman stood and walked down to Vanessa. "I can feel that you are changing. Having more than one power is rare but at your age, that's when it occurs. I can feel the change inside of you but I can't tell what other power you have. Have you felt or seen changes?"

Vanessa thought back to the past couple of days. Nothing came to mind. "No." The councilman circled around her and examined both her body and mind. He couldn't find anything that pointed out what her power was.

"I still can't pinpoint the power you have. It's in the mind though. You haven't gained any abnormal amount of strength. I have taken in to consideration that you are a fighter in my calculations." He went back to his seat and started to write things down.

It was several more topics that Vanessa really started to get annoyed but she still had several hours to go. They had started to test her on her knowledge on the rules and regulations of the Angels that she will have to abide by when she becomes of age and quite frankly, she could wait for that to happen. The hours went by like days to her as they changed topic after topic. "Excuse me? Lady Vanessa?" Vanessa had zoned out for a second thinking about what her family might be doing right now. They were probably on their way to see Nate fight. "Lady Vanessa!"

"What?"

"Would you please concentrate? Were not even half way done and you are already somewhere else."

"Oh, I'm sorry, go on please."

"Very well then. We have begun to notice that you haven't been using your mountain that often anymore. Is there a reason as to why that is?"

"This is ridiculous. It's my mountain and my tower. It shouldn't be any of your business as to when and why I am or are not using it."

"We were only concerned for you."

"Well, if you insist, I have actually been going to school. That's where I met my boyfriend. That's why I haven't been up there lately. I have been training him. That's why I am so out of it today. He has a tournament that I had said that I would attend. I don't seem to understand why you want to know so much about my personal life. I'm not breaking any rules and you would know if I did. If you are trying to determine how serious this relationship is, think about it. It's the first one that I have been in, in years and he has kept me from getting into fights at school. He is one of the only people that I can stand in that horrid school and I have been training him one on one with Seth watching. It has been years since I have ever trained a commoner besides Seth and his brother Eric."

Not only were the councilmen shocked at her outbreak but Vanessa was shocked that she did that. She usually has great self control around the councilmen but right then, she broke. It wouldn't be the first that she broke and Nate being one of the causes. "I'm sorry for intruding but it does seem that this is not a usual teen relationship. To you anyway. For all we know, this guy-"

"Nate."

"Ok. For all we know, this Nate fellow could be pulling your leg. I know that you don't like to hear it but there will be several more meetings if we have any suspicions of a foul manner from him. He will be watched. You will also be watched but he will be more closely. He won't know it and you won't tell him about it."

Vanessa was at a loss for words. They didn't know Nate as well as she did and if they did, they wouldn't be doing this. She knew that it was only a precaution but if they knew her half as well as they thought they did, they wouldn't be doing this. She wouldn't just open up to anyone and it was her father that helped him. And he could see the future for Pete sakes. This was just a waste of her time. "Is he the only reason that you wished for my presence?"

"No. I have other matters that need your consent." Vanessa rolled her eyes. This day was not the day that she had hoped for. For the next few hours, the councilmen asked her questions pertaining to her opinion on different matters. "And what do you think of us tearing this place down and rebuilding a new one?"

"It's a stupid decision. You would be put out of business for who knows how long."

"Alright, that's it for those questions." He then looked around to see that he was correct and that all of the other councilmen were done with their questions. "Now we have to talk to you about an early age charge."

"Come again?"

"An early age charge. It's when you are of age in another culture and you have a choice of staying in that culture until you are of age in our culture. You currently reside in the human culture and in the United States to be exact. In that culture you become of age at the age of 18 and 21. You have turned 18 today and so you are given the choice to stay there or come and join us as a councilman. You will also be given the opportunity when you turn 21. Otherwise, you will wait until the age of 40 and then you are required by law to be one of us. Your father is one of the exceptions. He is allowed to take leave when he must and bring with him one other here if he must. You might get that choice at a later age if you choose not to join at this time." Vanessa was stunned. She never expected this. She knew that the answer was no way but she couldn't get her body to respond. She had never heard of this early age charge. Probably her father knew that she would never go for it.

"I am not sorry but I must decline your offer at this time. I do not wish to become one of you currently and I have people to get back to that are waiting for me." Vanessa tried her hardest to make it sound as though it was polite. That was the most polite way that she could put it. She hoped that it worked.

"Thank you for the answer. Now wither you have thought it were days or seconds, were done for today. We have things to discuss within our own discussion. You are excused."

"Thank you." Vanessa was delighted that she could leave now. She needed to hurry if she were to catch Nate winning his final match. She flew as fast as she could to her truck and put on her necklace and bracelet. She then drove down to the ring. She didn't care if the others saw here wearing this. Her father had told her to hurry down there. She drove as fast as she could without speeding because that would slow her down even more. When she pulled up to the ring, she could barely find a parking space. She could hear cheering on for a fight inside and she knew that it was Nate. It was the winning match and he was about to win. She looked at herself in the mirror to make sure that everything was ok and that her hair didn't get messed up from flying. She stepped out of her truck and locked it. As she opened the doors to the ring, she could see on the monitor, Nate was just about to win this fight. She hurried down the hall as fast as the crowd would let her. She had to push a lot of idiots out of the way to see him pin the other fighter and she could see that the fight had been going on for a while.

"ONE! TWO! THREE!" The referee said and Nate let go. He stood up knowing that he won. Vanessa looked around all of the yelling fans and saw her parents and Seth. When she saw Seth, he locked eyes with her and smiled. He started to walk to her and she looked back at Nate.

The crowd was getting thicker and Vanessa saw someone that could make her blood boil more than anyone else, besides the council. Cassandra was making her way onto the ring and then turned Nate around and kissed him. Vanessa felt the whole world stop. Her heart was torn. Hatred and hurt was all that she could think of. She knew that it wasn't Nate's fault. Cassandra's the one that shocked him and turned him around. The thing that got her out of her trance of anger was Seth. He touched her shoulder and she was about to break his arm until she saw that is was Seth. He looked at her confused but then looked up at the ring. Nate broke the kiss and pushed Cassandra away from him. Vanessa felt a tear fall from her eye and that's when she locked eyes with Nate. He smiled at Vanessa but then frowned. The crowd around Vanessa moved over to get a better look at the champ and Vanessa moved her hand to her necklace that Nate had given her. She yanked it off and through it as hard towards Nate as she could and ran out of the ring. Seth saw the whole thing go down and looked between Nate and Vanessa. He knew how much she hurt just by that simple tear that fell from her eye. Nate started to ignore the crowd and run after Vanessa. "Vanessa!" She was in her truck and was about to close the door when she heard Nate run to her. "Vanessa!"

"Get away from me! I never want to see you again!" She saw the hurt in Nate's eyes but it couldn't compare to what she felt. She quickly closed the door and heard Nate again.

"Come on. I can explain." If Vanessa was in her normal self, she could tell that he was telling that he was really hurt and wasn't at fault but she wasn't in her right mind. She drove off to where she knew a safe place was: her mountain. She couldn't believe him. He did almost nothing to stop it either. All she could do was replay what happened in her mind. She thought back to so many different memories that she had to drive off to the side and stop near the curb to sort everything out. She came to her conclusion fast. She was not going to come out of her mountain for a long time and since it was fully stocked, she wouldn't have to. She wouldn't go back to that school of stupid jerks. The only people that could see her were Seth and Eric. She wouldn't allow her father or mother to come up there and definitely not Nate. She got a hold of herself and drove up to her mountain. She saw that someone was already there. Not because there was a vehicle but because she saw the lights on and the red light signaling that someone had finished the rock walls. She smiled and knew that it had to be Eric. She didn't want him to see her in this state though. She walked in and into the training area.

"Hey, I didn't expect you here Vanessa. I thought that you would be with my brother down watching your boyfriend fight."

"Well, here I am and he's not my boyfriend." She said sadly. Eric looked at her with a concerning look. "He's my ex-boyfriend." She wanted to just curl up in a ball and cry when she said it but because of Eric, she didn't. "Look, I would rather be alone right now. You can come by tomorrow if you want. Just knock on my door first so that I know it's you."

"Ok." Eric ran up to her after he got out his harness and hugged her. "I want you to be ok. I don't like it when you get sad."

"Neither do I kid. Neither do I." She hugged him back and then walked into the 'lobby' of the building. "See you tomorrow?"

"Bright and early." He smiled and flew off. Vanessa then closed the doors and locked them. The only ones with keys were Seth and her father but neither of them had the key to the living quarters of the place. Only she did and it was times like these that she was grateful of that. She went to the bedroom and curled up into a ball. Today was up there in the worst days of her life. The first was when her father left to the council. Tears fell freely from her eyes as she tried to sleep.

**~Dream~**

"Hello? Is anyone there?" Vanessa found herself walking through a park at night. It was almost pitch black. "I know you're here!" She turned the corner and saw Nate walking away from her. "Good. I'm glad that you're going away from me." She thought to herself as she turned around. A new person was right behind her and she almost ran into the person when she turned around. When she made out whom it was anger filled though her body and all self control left. Vanessa was on Cassandra in seconds. Pounding her face in as best she could but she felt a sudden restraint on her arms.

"Hey, stop that! What are you doing?" She turned around to see Nate almost scolding her. He let go and put himself in between Vanessa and Cassandra. "Have you gone insane? You were hurting her."

Vanessa stood in shock. Cassandra only looked at her like she won. "Ha, well, let's go somewhere else. I don't want to be around some psychopath that wants to hurt me."

"Alright." They turned around and left.

**~Reality~**

She sat up in her bed to the sound of someone pulling up outside. She groaned knowing that it was either Seth or her father. Nate wouldn't dare come up here. She stood and noticed that she still hadn't changed since this morning and so she went to the closet and changed into a training outfit. She also put her hair up in a plain pony tail. She heard the door to the place being opened and two people walking around. "Vanessa!" She heard Seth yell.

"Vanessa I'm sorry!" Vanessa's eyes opened wide at the voice of Nate. She became slightly worried about herself and she thought back to the ring and then the dream. She knew that it was stupid but she still wasn't in her right mind. She looked around and saw the window and she quickly walked to it but then decided against leaving. If she left, her father would tell Seth where she went. She knew that neither of them could get in and she wouldn't come out. She then remembered that she had a music player. She put her headphones in and turned the music as loud as it could go. She sat on her bed looking at the ceiling thinking about how long it would take for them to leave.

It was getting late and she could still see Seth's truck outside. She turned her music off and heard Seth say something. She decided to listen in closer. "Come on. We've done all we could do for today. She's not leaving and without the key, we're not getting in anytime soon. You need sleep and your parents came back just to see you win. They might be worried on where you are."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm not going to give up though. She is going to listen to me."

"Good luck with that. I don't think she's listening to anyone that's not on her music player."

"I guess so. But I'm coming back tomorrow." Vanessa cringed at the thought of facing him. She wasn't going to see him again. She didn't want to, she didn't have to, and so she wouldn't. When she heard them both leave, she gave a loud sigh of relief. She opened the door to her room and went into the bathroom. She saw two small boxes. One was already open and the other was closed. The one that was open had her necklace that she through at Nate when she saw Cassandra kissing him. She looked at the other one. It was a dark blue box. She opened it and a piece of paper came out. She closed the box and read the note. **"Happy Birthday. I only met you a few days ago but it feels as though those days have been years. I don't know why you hate your birthday so much but I hope this changes things."**

**-Love Nate**

She closed the note and tore it up. This wasn't the reason that she hated her birthday but it could be if she held onto it long enough. She hesitated but opened the box. There was a necklace pendant that was a butterfly. There was also a not under it. The butterfly was her favorite type and wondered how he knew or if he knew that it was her favorite type. "Probably asked Seth or my parents." She read the note. **"A butterfly because you gave them to me in my stomach when I was around you."** Vanessa smiled. "Maybe he really does care? No! He doesn't! Why would he go around kissing his ex if he cared?" She knew that it wasn't true though but she was at war with herself and didn't want either side to win. She would hurt either way. She was starting to rethink the offer that the council gave her at the meeting. If she went to the council then she wouldn't have to worry about any of them anymore. She decided that she could sleep on it and that would clear her mind. She got on her bed and slept. She had a hard time sleeping thought, with the dreams that she was having. All of them had something to do with Nate protecting Cassandra from her and then ignoring her own pain.

**Compared to the chapters that I have recently posted this is a really short one, but there wasn't really more that I could put into it. I would either be going on and on about the meeting or be saying more about her dreams but I'm pretty sure that I got my point across. With this turn of events, will she be going back to school Monday?**

**Ok, so Tomorrow I'm not going to be updating. :( I know. But I have a baseball game to go to. I'm also buisy with other family things so the next update will be on Monday.**


	12. Nate's view Day 6

Chapter 12 (Nate's view)

He woke up at 6 in the morning and he slept great. The first thing that clicked today was not that he had a tournament but that it was Vanessa's birthday. He sat on his bed looking at his drawings and wondered what he should give her. It would be too obvious to get her something that had to do with Angels but what else does she like? He then thought back on their relationship. He got the idea that he should give her a butterfly. He remembered all the times that she gave him butterflies and so he should get her one. He got up and got dresses and then realized that he has less than an hour before he was going to open up the ring for himself. He grabbed his bag for training with his training clothes in it and then he got in his truck and left. He went to the jewelry store and then found a butterfly pendant. It was amazing and he had the feeling that she would love it. He smiled to himself and then wrote the first thing that came to his mind. **"A butterfly because you gave them to me in my stomach when I was around you."** He smiled as he put the note in the box and then the pendant. He looked at his watch and saw that it was almost 7. He drove to the ring and put all of his things in his personal locker. He then changed into his training gear. He not only did some weights but also did a few laps around the ring. He heard a knock on the door and saw that it was about 8. "Come on in." The few that were waiting outside came in and only a few minutes passed by when Nate saw Scotty walk in. "Hey man."

"Hey. What you been up to?"

"Just getting ready for the tournament. Are you going to be in it?"

"Oh yeah, I wouldn't miss it." Nate smirked and then they both went and started to do their warm ups. When it was time to open the doors for the people that wanted to watch the event, the fighters lined up around the ring. Nate was 'in charge' of the whole ordeal of the placement. He was up in the ring saying the rules and regulations of the tournament. There was a signup sheet being passed around the fighters and when everyone's names were on it, it got handed back up to Nate. "Alright, if you haven't been listening than this is when you should tune in. You will have thirty minutes. You are not allowed to fight with each other unless you are in the ring. There is to be no use of the equipment until the tournament starts. Your time starts now." The fighters slowly went away from the ring and went to their friends or families. Nate signed his name on the signup sheet and gave it to the referee. He saw Seth go through the doors and behind him were Vanessa's parents. "Hey Seth." He looked around to see if he could spot Vanessa but couldn't.

"Hey. She's not here."

"What?"

"Vanessa, she's not here. Something came up and she'll be here to see you win your final match but don't be mad at her."

"I'm not mad. If something really important came up than it wasn't her fault. I just hope that she gets here to see me win."

"She will. I don't doubt that." He smiled and Nate knew that he could trust him. They both turned around to Connor and Veronica.

"Thank you for coming."

It's no problem but I think that there are a couple of people that you should be talking to."

Nate looked at him confused and then Conner turned around and let Nate see behind him. It was his parents. They walked up to him and then his mother gave him a hug. "I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks mother." Nate felt like his mother was squeezing him to death. "Mother." He said hoarsely.

"Yes?"

"Choking."

She let go of him and put her hands on his shoulders. "Oh, I'm so sorry." She hugged him but not as tightly and then let go for her husband. Nate looked at his father. They didn't speak much but when they did it all seemed to all be business."Oh come on you two. Hug it out." Nate looked at his mother and then back to his father who had his hand out.

"It's nice to see you again son." Nate shook his hand and then looked at Seth.

"Oh, Mother, Father, this is Seth."

"Hello." Seth shook both of their hands to greet them.

"And this is Conner and Veronica." The pair of parents exchanged their greeting.

"So, Nate." His mother said. "Where's Cas-" She stopped as she saw Cassandra looking around. She then went over to her. Nate turned to see where she went and rolled his eyes when he realized who it was.

"Does she not know?" Seth asked Nate."

"I haven't told them yet."

"Haven't told us what?" His father stood waiting for an answer.

"I broke it off with Cassandra."

He noticed his father smile or had some happy smirk forming. "Well, it's about time. I do think that your mother will have a harder time dealing with it than I am though." Nate was surprised to say the least He thought that both of his parents loved Cassandra but he now realized that the only one that liked her was his mother and that was something that he didn't want to do. He had to though. It was over. His mother was just going to have to face the facts. "So I know your names but how did you get to meet my son?"

"They are my new girlfriend's parents."

"Really? And you?"

"He's Vanessa's best friend."

"Well, I can't wait to meet this Vanessa girl. Where is she?"

"Something really important came up and so she won't be here until the end of the tournament." Nate said. He could see the semi-disappointed look on his father's face.

"I would love to know more about her if I can't meet her until the end of the tournament."

Nate wondered how he was going to begin explaining Vanessa to his father. He thought about her fighting and is anti-social, and how gorgeous she was. "To describe what she looks like, she looks like her mother but younger and has less of a happy go lucky attitude. No offence."

"Non-taken. I know what I'm like and what she's like."

"Ok, anyway, she's a great fighter. One of the best I have met. She's not really a people person and doesn't have many friends but-"

His father cut him off. "So she's exactly like you and the total opposite at the same time?"

"Yes, and she's nothing like miss jealousy over there." They all chucked at that. Nate's mother came over and Cassandra was right on her tale.

"Look honey at who I found over there."

Nate's father nodded in acknowledgement. "Darling, I think Nate has something to say to you since Cassandra has failed to inform you." That earned him a dirty look from Cassandra.

"Oh, no, she told me. I won't stand for it either."

"What?"

"You heard me mister. You apologize right now."

"For what?"

"You know exactly what but if I must explain it, Cassandra says that you have been avoiding her and been all out mean to her. I won't have my son be an abusive person in a relationship. Now you apologize right now Mr."

"Honey, you have been deceived. Do you know how these three have come to know Nate?"

"No but what does that have to do with anything?"

Nate looked at Cassandra wishing that Vanessa were here to set things straight between them. If he came across Vanessa beating the living daylights out of Cassandra right now, he probably would just walk away and wait for Vanessa to be finished. Before his father could answer, he answered himself. "Because, mother, they are my girlfriend's parents and best friend."

"No, I've met Cassandra's parents. They are not them."

"That's the whole point, I'm not dating Cassandra anymore. That's why I've been avoiding her. I don't like her, and just because I tell her that I don't want her around me isn't being 'all out mean to her'."

His mother stood in shock. "What?" It seemed as though she was either in denial or it was going to take a while for it to sink in. "What?"

"Mother, I'll let it sink in but Cassandra and I are no longer together." He gave Cassandra the look that he learned from Vanessa. He watched as she physically stiffened in fear. "Now, you all can sit together and get to know each other. I need to go back to the other fighters." Nate hugged his mother. "Hey, I love you."

"Love you too sweetie."

Nate smiled at his mother and nodded at Vanessa's parents. "Nate!" Seth called out. Nate turned around. "Win it for her."

Nate smiled at the thought of Vanessa congratulating him when he won. He went to the other fighters and they got chosen for the spot they had. Nate had a fight in the middle. When waiting for his fight, Nate went to the Security room and watched the monitors. The fights were interesting but even though the fighters couldn't hear him, he still pointed out what they were doing wrong. It wasn't long before it was his first fight and so he went back to the ring and arrived just in time to see the winner of the fight before his. The crowed was roaring in excitement as Nate got into the ring. He could see the fear in his opponent's eyes and he decided that he would get this one over with quickly. When they shook each other's hand, Nate felt how sweaty his opponent's hands were. He felt a little sad for him. When the bell rang, his opponent charged to Nate and Nate took a step to the side and put his hand out. His opponent's chest hit his hand and fell backwards. Nate took the opportunity and pinned him right when his opponent hit the ground. The ref counted and Nate easily won that match. He decided to stick around because Scotty's match was right after his. "Wish me luck."

"You don't need it man, you've got this." Nate watched as Scotty got into the ring. "You can do it!" He yelled. Scotty looked back and smiled. When the ref got into the ring, Scotty and his opponent shook hands. The bell rang and they started their fight. Nate watched as they exchanged blow for blow. It happened in slow motion for everyone in the room. Nate knew it was going to happen right before Scotty fell. Scotty's opponent had slammed Scotty on the ground and a terrifying yell came from Scotty. The ref blew his whistle and silence fell upon the entire room. The only noise that was made was from Scotty and the medics. Nate ran over to the ring to the side that Scotty was on to see what the damage was and he could see that his ankle wasn't right. "Hey, what happened?"

"This young fighter looks as though he has broken his ankle." Nate looked at the ankle again. It was really swollen and starting to bruise already. "Alright, let's get him to the hospital." The paramedics carefully put Scotty on a stretcher and wheeled him off to the ambulance to the hospital.

When then ring had a tournament, they always had an ambulance on standby just in case something happened. The referee went into the ring and everyone quieted down. "Winning by default upon injury is Stephen." The crowd applauded but was somewhat disappointed that the fight was over. Nate went back to the security room and watched the matches until his match was up again. This time it would be against the same guy that Scotty had fought with. He wasn't nervous but he didn't feel right fighting him. They shook hands and then they got ready for the bell to ring. Strategies started to go through Nate's head and then he saw the beginning pose that his opponent was in. It was obvious that he was going to jump or tackle. Nate instantly went to unsteady him when the bell rang for the fight to begin. Just as he thought, his opponent jumped in the air towards him and he slid underneath him and when his opponent landed, Nate pinned him. "Winner: Nate!" The ref called out. Nate got out of the ring and walked over to Seth.

"You are doing great."

"It's really nothing. I just hope that Scotty's gunna be all right."

"Don't worry about him. He'll be better in no time."

"Thanks. Any word on Vanessa?"

"She'll still be there a while but it is for certain that she will see you win the title.'

"Ok, I'm going back to the security room."

"Good luck with the next match."

"Thanks."

Nate left an when he sat on the seat in the control room, he started to watch the next match. It seemed to be half way through. He only had three more matches to win but unlike the ones that he fought, these matches seemed to go on forever. He knew who was going to win easier now that he had been around Vanessa. He knew who was most likely to go to the championship rounds and so he focused on them and their techniques.

It was now time for the semi-finals to begin. Nate decided that it was a good choice to stay and watch the match before his to see who his opponent would be for the finals. It wasn't long until the match was over and he got into the ring. He examined his opponent. He wasn't going to have a hard time but it might take a while. This guy was a little unpredictable on what he was going to do. Nate got in his position ready for anything and the bell rang. The place was silent. Both of them just stood there waiting for the other to make a move. Nate grew tired of waiting and knew that it was a bad idea but he wanted to finish this fight. He ran like he was going to jump but instead slid around him and used the edge of the ring to help him and he kicked his opponent off balance falling forward but instead of falling forward, he fell and rolled so Nate jumped on him and got punched in the face. He retaliated and punched the other guy in the face and kneed him in the gut. He was flipped on him back with the other guy on top of him. Nate got his hands pinned above his head. The ref started counting but he refused to give up. He slipped one of his hands out from the hold and punched his opponent in the face. He knew that is shocked him enough to through him off guard and so he slipped his other hand from the grip and punched the other guy in the face twice and flipped again so now he was pinning the other guy. Not only was his opponent pinned but he was becoming unconscious. The ref counted and Nate had won the round. He knew that he needed to sit down and there was a 10 minute break until the finals. He walked over to Seth and flopped down on the seat next to him. "You did great."

"Thanks. I just wish that she were here."

"Don't worry. It won't be long now."

"Yeah, she's on her way." Nate looked over to Conner.

""Really?"

"Yeah. She'll be here in time to see the last few minutes of your fight."

"Great."

"You're going to have a black eye when this is done. You might want an icepack to put on it for a few minutes." Seth pointed out to Nate.

"Yeah, you're probably right. I'll go and get one now."

"I'll come with you." Cassandra chimed as she stood.

"No, I'll go with him." Seth said as he stood and started walking with Nate.

"Thanks." Nate said gratefully. "I don't know what I would have done if you didn't do that."

"I don't know what Vanessa would have said if that happened. I have a feeling that something bad would have happened."

"Yeah. Well thanks." Nate knew that something bad would have happened if she went with him. She would try something and he would somehow hurt her and she would go out and complain about it all because he didn't like her. They went to the medical wing and got an ice pack for his eye. When Nate heard the bell for his match to start, he gave the ice pack to the nurse and went back to the ring with Seth.

"Good luck."

"Thanks. I'm gunna win this thing."

Seth nodded and went to sit down. Nate watched Vanessa's father lean over and say something to Seth and figured that he said something about Vanessa. He had to win this. Vanessa could not watch him loose. He got in the ring and could feel some pain in his eye but ignored it. It wasn't starting to swell and so he could see clearly. He got in his stance and saw that his opponent mirrored him. Everything was the same. He didn't know what he had planned but he had to win this. When the bell rang, his opponent ran and slid to him but at the last second, Nate jumped forward to not get off balanced. He now knew what his opponent had planned. He had been watching him in his fights and started doing what he did. Nate had to change his tactics fast if he wanted to win. He saw his opponent come and he only had moments to dodge.

This fight went longer than he wanted it to. His opponent was better than all of the rest he had fought. He knew that he had to do something quick because he was getting warn out. He saw his chance as his opponent went and rolled because of an unsuspecting hit that Nate got on him. He took his chance and pinned his opponent as he was on the ground. The ref went over and started counting. "ONE! TWO! THREE!" Nate let go as he reached three. He stood up knowing that he won. The crowd roared in excitement. Nate looked around to see if he could see Vanessa hoping that she was here. He suddenly felt someone turn him around and kiss him. At first he thought it was Vanessa but the feeling wasn't right and that's when he noticed that it was Cassandra. He pushed her back and then looked around more and saw Seth. He was walking somewhere and that's when he saw Vanessa. He smiled and then frowned. He saw something shimmer and go down her face. He figured she had seen Cassandra kiss him. He felt helpless as he watched her grab the necklace that she was wearing and throw it at him. It dropped at his feet hard and almost made a dent in the floor and almost broke the necklace. He looked over at Cassandra with a stare that could kill and she frowned as if she were innocent. He ignored the crowd and ran after Vanessa. She was leaving and he needed for her to stay. "Vanessa!" She was in her truck and was about to close the door when he yelled out to her again. "Vanessa!"

"Get away from me! I never want to see you again!" He felt as if he had lost every match that he had just won and gotten beaten to the ground in everyone of them. Vanessa quickly closed the door and Nate tried again. "Come on. I can explain." He watched hopelessly as she drove away. Seth came out and put his hand on Nate's shoulder.

"Let's give her some space." Nate put his head down and sat on the curb and put his hands on his forehead.

"What am I going to do? I've lost her."

Seth sat next to him. "Hey, it will be alright. Who knows her better than I do? Let's give her time and some space. I think I know where she went. We can't get to her there. Let's go in, give Cassandra a piece of our minds, go and check on how Seth is in the hospital, and try and get you to feeling better." Seth stood and held his hand out to Nate. "Come one. Let's at least get her necklace."

Nate nodded his head. He couldn't just sit here. He stood up and he went in with Seth. When he got in, lots of people went and crowded around him, congratulating him on winning and giving him pats on his back. The problem is he didn't win. He lost. He lost her. The only thing that he won for. He followed Seth over to his parents and he could see the concern on their face. He then looked at Vanessa's parents and Conner went over to him. "Cassandra's over there near the corner." Nate nodded and went over there and Seth followed him.

He saw Cassandra talking to some of the fighters. He sneered in disgust and went up to him. "You!" He pointed to Cassandra and she skipped over to him with a smile on her face.

"Yeah babe?"

"No! You do not call me babe. I am NOT your babe. Get that through your head. You and I are OVER and have been for a while."

"As I told you last night, no we are not. Now that she's gone, we can go back to how we were before."

"And as I told you, there were more reasons that I broke it off, and that was for GOOD. It wasn't right for you to-" He watched as Cassandra put her hand on her arm near her shoulder and bent in pain. Nate still stood his ground but Seth went over and removed her hand. There was what looked like a cat scratch. He saw the look on Seth's face. It didn't alarm him. Seth just looked annoyed. "Now, you will not try to make a move on me again or else. We are through and are never getting back together."

"It's that bitch! You have been blinded by here. I'm what you want. She's a witch and put you under a spell!"

Nate saw the look on Seth's face. He was outraged. "She is NOT a witch! You are the bitch and unless you shut your fucken face and leave so that I never see your slutty ass again, you will never be able to see the light of day and you will be wishing that you were dead. Now LEAVE!"

He saw Cassandra stiffen and then cower and leave. Nate wondered what she had said that made Seth snap but let it go for now. Seth turned to Nate and then took a deep breath. "You ok man?"

"Yeah, let's just go back to your parents."

They walked back to his and Vanessa's parents. Nate nodded to Vanessa's parents and then looked at his own. "I'm going to the hospital, to see how Scotty is. Seth's coming with me. I'll go and try to talk to Vanessa afterwards. I still need to give her her birthday present." He then turned and grabbed his bag from his locker.

"You got her a gift?"

"Yeah." He got it out of his bag and opened the small box.

"Wow. Did she tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"That's here favorite type of butterfly."

"Really? I was afraid that she might not like it."

"No. She'll love it."

"I hope so." Nate then put it back in his bag and went to his car. "I'm taking my car. You coming or following?"

"I'll follow."

Nate nodded and then drove to the hospital where Scotty was taken. He got in there and saw the lady. "Hey, my friend broke his ankle and was taken here from the ring. His name is Scotty fling."

"Ok, I'll be right with you."

Nate sat down and Seth stood next to him. Nate heard his name being called from the desk. She told him where to find Scotty. He stepped into the room and saw Scotty with the remote control flipping through channels. Scotty looked up and started to laugh. "You know, there isn't much on tv at this time of day."

Nate started to laugh a little. "So how are you feeling?"

"Not that bad actually. I don't really feel it right now." He pointed to the IV that was in him.

"Pain meds?"

"Yep."

"So when are you getting out of here?"

"I'll be going to school Monday but it looks like they want to see how my ankle does overnight."

"Ok, are your parents going to come and take you home tomorrow?"

"they said if I can't get you to do it, then yeah, They're taking me home."

"Alright, I'll take you home tomorrow morning."

"Thanks."

"No problem." Nate looked at Seth. He was standing outside and hadn't come in the room yet. "I think Vanessa broke it off with me."

"What happened?"

"Well, I won the tournament. Cassandra came up in the ring and kissed me. I didn't like it but that is when it seemed that Vanessa came. When I saw her, she threw her necklace that I gave her at me and then ran off. When I ran after her, she said that she never wants to see me again. I don't know how I'm going to get her back."

"Hey. Bro. If you're the Nate that I know, you will find a way."

Nate gave out a sigh. "I don't know." He heard Seth knock softly on the door. "So I'll see you in the morning ok?"

"Yeah, tomorrow."

Nate left and Seth started walking. "Where now?"

"We are going to your place so you don't have to leave your car here. You are going to park your car at your place and then you are going to get in my truck and we will drive to Vanessa." Seth stopped at the door. "You will try and get her to come out of hiding."

"Where is she?"

"Her mountain."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Nate went out the door and got in his car. It didn't take long to get to his house and he parked his car in his garage. He brought his bag in with him to put it way and when he was about to walk out his door, he remembered the charm and then went to get it. He was looking at it when he decided to put another note in it. He got out a small piece of paper and a pen. **"Happy Birthday. I only met you a few days ago but it feels as though those days have been years. I don't know why you hate your birthday so much but I hope this changes things."**

**-Love Nate**

He looked at it and hoped that it would help. He put it in the small box and then put it in his pocket. He thought about Vanessa's necklace and then realized that he should give that to her too. He got it out of his bag and found a small box to put it in. He put that in his other pocket and went to Seth. "Got the box?"

"Yeah."

"Alright." They then drove to the mountain. They got out of the truck and Seth pulled out what looked like a credit card or a pass key and slid it in and out of the slot in the door. They entered and Nate followed Seth.

"Vanessa!" Seth yelled out. He knew that if she didn't come out, she was in her hiding room. He went over to the hallway of the rooms and Nate followed.

"Vanessa I'm sorry!" They walked down the hall to the door of the room he assumed that she was in. they heard some movement but the door never opened. "Come one Vanessa, I just want to talk." He saw Seth roll his eyes. "What?"

"She's probably listening to her music. She can't hear you."

"you can go and train or something if you want. I'm going to stay here and wait."

"Ok but if it starts becoming dark, we are leaving."

"Ok." Seth walked off and Nate sat at the entrance of the door, which still hadn't been opened. He knew that she would take her time to come around. He couldn't tell how late it was but he decided it was time to place her jewelry some place and he saw an open door. He walked to it and saw that it was a bathroom. On the counter, he placed both boxes next to each other. He decided to open the one that had her necklace and when he was about to open the other one, Seth came in the hallway and walked down the hall.

"I thought that you actually got in the room when I didn't see you."

"No."

Come on. We've done all we could do for today. She's not leaving and without the key, we're not getting in anytime soon. You need sleep and your parents didn't come back just to see you win. They might be worried on where you are."

"Yeah, you're right. I'm not going to give up though. She is going to listen to me."

"Good luck with that. I don't think she's listening to anyone that's not on her music player."

"I guess so. But I'm coming back tomorrow."

Seth nodded and they left. Nate felt that all hope was lost as he got in the truck. As they left the place, he couldn't help but watch the fading building in the mirror as they left.

When they got to Nate's place, they parked in the driveway. "You don't have to stay here."

"Oh, I have a feeling that you might want me to stay."

"Why?"

Seth just got out of the car and opened the garage door for Nate. Nate walked in and saw his parents and Vanessa's parents sitting and talking in the living room. "Hey sweetie. Com on in. Dinner's almost ready."

"Thanks." Nate said to Seth.

"No problem."

They went over and sat on one of the couches. "So what are you two doing here?"

"What? Can't two parents of a teenage couple go to one's house and talk?"

"I guess so, I just didn't think that you would be here right now, see as your daughter's still really mad at me."

"It wasn't your fault. She'll come around."

"I hope so."

"Let me go up there and talk to her tomorrow. You can stay down here and take care of Scotty."

"Ok. But when you get back, could you tell me how she was?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks." Nate and Seth started talking and it wasn't long until dinner was done. It was all ate and talked. When it was 11pm, Seth and Vanessa's parents left and Nate said goodnight to his parents. He went into this room and stared at the ceiling while lying on his bed. It was a while before he could fall asleep but when he did, he had nightmares of Vanessa beating Cassandra and then went after him and pounded his face in. This lead to many times that he woke up that night and tried not to go to sleep but his body did anyway.

**Ok, so Tomorrow I'm not going to be updating. :( I know. But I have a baseball game to go to. I'm also buisy with other family things so the next update will be on Monday.**


	13. Vanessa's view Day 7

Chapter 13 (Vanessa's view)

"Ugh!" Vanessa woke up and looked at the clock. It was 2 in the morning She had many dreams that woke her up over the night. She decided that she was not going to sleep. She decided that she wasn't going to get any real sleep and so she got up and looked around the room. She hadn't slept here in a while but it still felt like home. It wasn't a secret to anyone that knew her that she had moved a lot over the years. The first time was because of her father. He became of age and had to go into the council. Not every Angel went to the council but the few that were chosen were chosen at a very young age. She was chosen when she was only 3 years old and everyone was shocked that she was chosen because she was a half breed. Everyone thought that she would be a fighting Angel because even then, she was at the top of her class in fighting. She also never really got along with anyone. The only person, besides her father, who she got along with, was Seth. It wasn't until Eric, Seth's younger brother, became old enough to start fighting that she started to open up a little. She got to know Eric and started to talk with Seth's parents.

**~flashback~**

It was one night when she was 12 that she found out that she was moving. It wasn't just a few miles down the road either. It was an entire 20,000 miles away. Seth's mother had to go to the medical council and so Seth's family moved with Vanessa. Vanessa's father, Conner, had a training building built on a nearby mountain that no one had ever gone to and had no roads on it. He drove her up there and there was a big building. He walked her threw the doors and all it was was an empty room. There were no rooms that went off of it; there were no rooms that went off of it. What do you want it to look like?"

Being a 12 year old, she could think of anything and everything. She walked around to the whole building and then walked back to her father. "When you first walk in, here would be a big room with three chairs. One for Seth, Eric and Me. Then there will be a room to the left. A doorway with double doors and in that room will be my training room. It will have a fighting ring in the center of it and two rooms coming off of it. One for supplies and the other will be a shower room." She then walked to the other side of the building. "This will be a hallway and at the end of it will be a bedroom and near the entrance of the hallway will be a closet and a bathroom."

"Why would you need a bedroom."

Vanessa frowned. "I'm going to be spending sometime up here. I will go and live with mom but I need some time up here alone."

"I understand" She knew that this was his goodbye gift to her. She ran up to him and hugged him.

"I don't want you to leave."

"I know. I don't want to either. I have to though."

"I don't like them. Why can't I go with you? I have already been chosen by them."

"You are not of age. I don't want you there anyway. You are a fighter not a councilman."

"You're right. I'm going to train and become as strong as you are."

"You are going to do some great things."

"When?"

"In a few years."

"Are you going to be there when I do?"

"You'll see."

**~End flashback~**

Vanessa walked from her room to the training room. Lots of memories were made in that room. She remembered the first time that Seth got her seriously injured.

**~Flashback~**

It was only a month after it was all one and built. Her father was supposed to leave in the morning and she was having a long night of training with Seth. They had been seen as an actual couple for about a month but in training, all bets were off. They both had been fighting for 6 hours and had many deep cuts and bruises. She was about to kick him but he beat her to it and got her leg and reopened a deep cut that she had gotten a few days ago. It got deeper when it was reopened and it cut down almost to the bone. She fell before he could hit her again and grabbed her leg. "Vanessa?"

She looked up at him and blood started to drip slowly down her leg. His eyes widened and then he bent down to see how bad it was. She removed her hand and then watched his face. He didn't show any emotion. "Is it bad?"

"Nothing that won't heal in a week or two."

"That bad?"

"Yeah. Let's get you home. It will be the last few hours that you will be able to see your father and you need to get wrapped up." Vanessa frowned and then tried to stand but couldn't. "Hey, I'll help you." He picked her up and then flew to her house.

**~End of flashback~**

It made her smile but then she thought of what happened just a few days ago. She broke down in front of that stupid excuse for a boyfriend. But what did she expect from a human. She never even really trusted her mother. Yeah she cares for her but she never trusted her. She's the reason that she moved the second time. Her work required her to move. Her mother was a cake decorator and her boss had had to move locations and it was halfway across town. They had only been living at the house that she first moved to for 6 months. Now they were moving again and Vanessa decided that she would keep all of her things in her mountain. It was 2 years and 18 schools later that they moved again. Her mother let her stay in her mountain for two months before she went back to school.

**~Flashback~**

The first school that she went back to she stayed in there for two weeks. She didn't do any work and she got and one of the teachers got mad at her. They almost hit her but then she caught his arm. "I know you don't want to do that. Do you want a broken arm?" The teacher quickly shook his head no. "Yeah, so you better not touch me again." She let go of his arm and walked away.

A girl came up to her. "I saw what you did in there."

"Yeah, so?"

"I'm going to report it and you will be kicked out."

"Good. Then I don't have to deal with you people."

"Look Bitch!" She turned Vanessa around. "I don't know who you are but-"

Vanessa 'lightly' slapped the offending girl. "No you look bitch. I don't like you or anyone else in this shit hole. Go and report me. Get me expelled. I want you to."

The girl ran away and told the principal. Vanessa got called up and was questioned about it. She didn't deny anything and was kicked out. She went to a new school the next week and spent 2 days there.

**~End flashback~**

Vanessa walked into the closet and grabbed a net when she heard a knock on the door to the outside. She knew that it had to be Eric. She put down the net and went to the door. It was Eric and when he came in, she closed the door and locked it. When she closed the door, she looked at the clock. It was now 4 in the morning. "So, what do you want to do?"

"I haven't trained in the simulator room lately."

"Alright, you get everything ready. I'll go choose the settings for it. She walked to the simulator room and looked at the settings. She remembered the first time that she got this room installed.

**~Flashback~**

She had moved three times since the first move and she had gotten kicked out of every school that she had gone to. She was now turning 15 and she had learned something. Every time that her birthday came around, she had to have a meeting with the council and her father couldn't be there. She already came up with the conclusion that she hated her birthday because she it meant that her time away from the council got shorter but now that she had these yearly meetings, she despised her birthday and the council. She spent most of her time up in her mountain training and felt like it was coming to a standstill. All she was doing was lifting weights and fighting with Seth and Eric. Even Seth knew that something was up. She just wasn't herself. Just the previous week, Seth had asked her what was bothering her. Now she realized what made her seem off. She needed something new, something different. She looked around the room and wondered what it was. She had been going to her private room at the official training grounds because it had more than the one that she had at the mountain. She hadn't heard from her father in almost 3 years and she knew that her mother talked to him every single night. It bothered her that she couldn't talk to her father.

One night, while training Eric, he had said something that triggered a thought in her mind. She realized what she was missing, what she needed. A simulator room. It would simulate different environments and if it could happen, different gravity to give her some challenge. She would also have some rock walls built like the ones that they installed in the official training grounds . If only she knew how she could get them. She went home after a night of training and her mother came up to her. "Honey?"

"Mother?"

"Your father says that you want a new addition to the mountain training grounds?"

"Yeah. I only thought about it during training earlier but yeah, I would like some changes."

"Alright, we will cut you a deal. You will go to this new school for at least a month and by then, the new things will be done. Ok?"

"Sure. One month. How bad can they be this time?"

It turned out, they were worse than the last one that she went to and she thought that it was impossible. At least the last school didn't try and make her actually do things. On her first day, they made her get in front of the class and make an hour presentation about herself and she had to go through with it because she needed that new room for the mountain. The month passed by slowly but it was all worth it in the end. It was finished the day before her dreadful birthday. That night, she had a dream and her father visited her. It was the best days in a long time to her. The first time that she fought in the simulator room, it was her and Seth. They had been over for a few years but she was glad that he was still here. She didn't know what she would do without him. They were looking over the controls and decided that it would be really hot and humid and under 20x normal gravity. They warmed up and then started fighting. It was a long while before they decided to call it a night. Vanessa was really relieved when she turned off the simulation and felt the weight lifted off her shoulders. She leaned against the control panel and Seth walked over to her. "I like it. That was a great idea."

"Yeah, I knew it was. I need to thank your brother because I wouldn't have had the idea if it weren't for him."

"He'll be here tomorrow."

"But I can't tomorrow. My mother signed me up for another school. I go tomorrow. But I am glad that I'm not going to that other one. I don't know why she keeps thinking that I need to go to school. I've learned all that already and I could test out of all of that."

"I don't know either but you have to deal with it for now. You only have one year left."

"I know."

**~End Flashback~**

"Vanessa?"

She was spaced out for a while and Eric was starting to worry. "huh?"

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry. Let's get to this."

"Ok." They started but heard a buzz coming from outside the room. It was installed because it wasn't safe for someone to just open the door when others were training in there. Vanessa stopped and Eric went and turned off the simulator. She opened the door and scowled at who she saw. "Who is it?"

"What do you want mother?"

"Oh hey Veronica."

"Hi." Vanessa could see that her mother was hesitant. "Vanessa, could we talk?"

"No."

"Fine, I'll just wait."

"I'm not coming down. I don't care how many schools you sign me up for, I'm not going. I'm testing out and staying up here."

"I said that I'll wait. I'll be in your room when you want to talk."

"Go home."

"Only if you come with me."

"Why? So I can forgive his sorry little ass? No, I'm not doing it. You can go home for however long dad is back."

"Alright, I'll be in your room if you need me." Veronica walked off and Vanessa felt like punching something's face in. She turned around to Eric.

"What was that all about?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Alright, are we going to train?"

"Yeah." She closed the door and turned the simulator back on. "Let's go."

"Ok." She started fighting with Eric. They were at 50x the normal gravity and at freezing temperatures.

Before long, Eric got the idea of stopping and saying that he was done. He knew that it wasn't good for his training but he knew that Veronica needed to talk with Vanessa. He would hear it from his brother if he didn't. He acted out of breath and doubled over in 'pain'. "Hey, Vanessa. Let's just call it a day, we've been at it for hours now and I need to stop."

"Fine. But tomorrow you are going to do 4 rounds of the walls and a few laps around the mountain. No wings. You are getting lazy in your training. You can leave. I'm going to stay and train some more."

"No, you can't be in here by yourself. It's one of your safety rules."

"If I'm the one that made it, I can take it away."

"No."

"What did you just say?"

"No, you can't just take away your rules. Now, you have two options, you can talk with me or you can talk with your mother."

Vanessa couldn't believe him. He had never spoken to her like that. Why did he all of a sudden turn on her? She knew that he wasn't going to leave and even though he had turned on her, she couldn't seriously hurt him. She had done that once and could never live that down. She turned off the simulator and went out with Eric."Now, you can leave, I'll lock the room and you can even take the key. If I lock it, it won't let me in by myself because of that stupid safety rule that I made. Even with my finger scanner. Now, I wish to be alone. I don't need nor want to talk with anyone with y problems because I have none. I have made my decision and I'm not changing my mind on it."

"I'm not asking you to. I just want to know what happened. I'm going to here from my brother about it no matter what so I much rather hear it from the source. I don't care if you want to talk about it; I want to heard it from you."

Vanessa stood there and wondered what got into this boy that she had known ever since he was born. He was going to hear about it. She was deciding on how he should hear about it. From her view or the one that was corrupted by Seth? From her would be best. "Ok so you know that yesterday was the meeting with the council. It took almost all day but when it was done, I did what my father told me to do and got down to the ring as fast as I could." She started telling her side of the story on what happened. It was more than thirty minutes later that she finished. "And that's why I am not going back down there. I can't stand him and thinking about it now, the night before, my father had given me a few things that angered me and I didn't like it. The thing that stuck in my head the most was that I needed to go down there as fast as possible. He knew this was going to happen. The last thing he told me was not to be angry at him because it wasn't his fault. He knew what was going to happen. Why didn't he stop it or tell Nate to be on guard of what might happen? He could have stopped it. Why didn't he?"

"Why don't you ask him?" Eric spoke up for the first time since Vanessa started telling her story. "Even if you don't feel like talking to anyone about it, you could still ask him what the consequences would be if he stopped it from happening. He had to know what would happen if he did stop it."

"I only will if he comes up here because I'm not going down there." Vanessa sighed and sat on the side of the ring. "You know, I've honestly thought about going into the council."

"What? But you're not old enough and you hate those men."

"I know but I would be with my father and they gave me an offer. They said that they would allow me to go in because in the human world, I have come of age because I turned 18. I'm considering this."

"But you can't. Think of Seth and me. You won't be able to see us again. Neither of us have been chosen for that council."

"But eventually wee will all have to part from each other and why can't that be now?"

"Do you really want to give up beating people up? You can't be a fighter anymore if you go into the council. I'll stop training and tell the fighting council that I'm going to be with my mother. I won't have the experience that would be necessary to be a fighter if you don't train me."

"Don't be stupid. You love fighting. Seth can train you. He's going into fighting too. You don't have to give up if I go to the council."

"I don't have to but I will. I already know enough of the medical stuff that I can start learning more on it now and be ready for when I'm of age."

Vanessa knew that the medical field wasn't what he wanted to go into. It would almost be like her going into the council but he had somewhat of an interest. She had no interest in the council. "I'll think about it. Could you make my mom leave though?"

"I can ask her but that's all I can do."

"You know kid, you're smarter than I give you credit for. Tell that to Seth when you see him."

"You could tell him. I could go and get him."

"No, that's probably not the best. He's probably with Nate and you still have wings."

"Oh, well there's not really much I could do."

"Go home, I think that your dad might be needing you."

"Ok, I hope everything goes well."

Vanessa nodded as Eric flew away. "So do I. So do I." She thought to herself and then looked at the hallway. Nothing was going to change her. Not even her mother could change her. She was the way she was. She had no feelings and had no fears. She was going to hear what her mother had to say but wasn't going to change her mind. She started slowly walking down the hall and noticed that her door was wide open but her closet inside her room wasn't. She walked into her room and saw her mother looking through all the clothes. "Mother?"

Veronica turned around and had an outfit in her hands. It was the same one that she picked out for the meeting yesterday for Vanessa. The only thing that was missing was the cape. She couldn't find it anywhere in the closet. "I knew that you would like this. I did see you before you left the ring. You hadn't changed from it. You still looked beautiful in it." She put the clothes back. "I can't find the cape though."

Vanessa thought about where she put the cape and then looked at her bed. It was hanging off the side of it but wasn't touching the ground. "It's out here." Her mother came out of the closet and Vanessa closed the door. "So, you wanted to talk to me?"

"No, I wanted to talk with you. There's a difference." Veronica sat on Vanessa's bed and then patted the spot next to her. Vanessa rolled her eyes and leaned against the wall behind her. "Fine, are you coming down with me?"

"No."

"Are you going to come down at all?"

"No."

"Are you going to give me more than one word answers?"

"Maybe."

"Ok, I honestly don't know what to say. Nate and I talked and he wanted me to pass along a message but I don't think that you are willing enough to listen to it. You might hear it but you won't listen to it. You're father also gave me a message that you might listen to."

"Speaking of Father. Why didn't he stop her?"

"So are you blaming this all on her and not him or are you adding your father to the blame?"

"Answer my question."

"Well, that's part of the message that he wanted me to give you. He had said that the girl would have tried anyway. You see, Nate got hurt in the semi finals and so he went to the medical wing and she volunteered to take him. She had planned to kiss him then but Seth went with him instead. You see, she would have tried to kiss him when you weren't around. It would have been best if you saw it happen rather than hear about it. Bad things would have happened if you heard about it. Now answer my question."

"No, I was not putting the blame on him."

"Then who are you really putting the blame on?"

"The stupid council, that idiot ex-girlfriend, him."

"Why him."

"He kissed her. Why else?"

"Actually she kissed him. He didn't kiss back. That's some of what Nate wanted me to tell you. It wasn't him that did the kissing. You saw it with your own eyes. She's the one that turned him around. She's the one that kissed him. Don't blame him."

"So, is this how you are supposed to be persuading me to go back down there?"

"Actually, your father hasn't told me. When Nate came by the house today-"

"Wait, He went by your house?"

"Yes, he wanted to know if you had come home over the night, wanted to tell me a message, he also had figured out something."

"What?"

"He knows that your father can see the future. He said that he didn't know how he could see the future but he knows that he can."

"What else. You're holding something back."

"Well, apparently Seth lost his self control yesterday when he and Nate went to talk to Cassandra and snapped. I think that it's because she called you something but I'm not sure."

"She called me a witch didn't she?"

"I think so. It's the only thing that I can think of that would make Seth snap like he did."

"It wouldn't be the first time that she did. She confronted me one day and called me a witch. I hurt her with the truth. I knew that I had said that I would give that stupid school a week so I didn't hurt her like that."

"I know what you did to hurt her though."

"Like I care."

"Using the Dark angel in you isn't a good thing."

"She's going to scar."

"What?"

"That girl will have a scar right here." She pointed to her arm near the shoulder. "It will look like a cat scratch but it will be three inches long. It will hurt if she ever lays a finger on him again."

"So you still care about him?"

"No, she must learn her lesson on trying to get him back. She will NEVER get him back."

"Why?"

"He's mi-" Vanessa stopped herself before she could finish. Was she really just about to say that he was hers and not Cassandra's? "No, I wasn't. I was just going to say…" She found herself not being able to come up with something.

"She can't have him because he's what?"

"Nothing. He just doesn't want her. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go back to training."

"Ok, will I see you tomorrow?"

"Are you going to come up here tomorrow?"

"I see. If you do come home, your father would like to talk to you."

"If he really wants to talk to me, he can talk to me tonight when I sleep."

"Ok." Veronica left and Vanessa was now all alone. She closed her door and fell on her bed with a sigh.

"What am I going to do?" She thought to herself. "I said before she talked to me that whatever she said wouldn't change me. But I'm the one that said it. She looked out the window and saw that the sun was already setting. She didn't think that her training with Eric went that long. She noticed that this was the first day that she hadn't taken a nap and she was really tired. She closed her eyes and then opened them up immediately. She couldn't sleep now. She didn't want to talk to her father now. She had just finished her talk with her mother. She stood up and then walked to the training room. She went to the shower room and noticed that there weren't any towels in there. She hadn't done any cleaning in this room since her last move. She walked to the closet in the hall and took some towels into the room. She then looked at the simulator room. Vanessa hadn't used that in a while but it felt good to train in different conditions.

When she walked over to the computer screen on the wall, she checked the stats. Over the past month of training up here after she first moved, she had beaten her climbing time ten times. She saw that not only was Eric training in here in secret, he had beaten the time she had when she moved here and is almost as good as her now. She thought back at how easy he cracked in the simulator. "He couldn't have, could he? Did he quite on purpose?" She shrugged it off and then started looking at Seth's stats. He skyrocketed in his abilities. She noticed how this school messed her training because Seth had beaten her time all together. She couldn't do this school thing anymore. It was messing up her physically and psychologically.

She then walked over to the ring in the room. Lots of fights had occurred in this ring and lots of blood was shed because of how hard she and Seth worked themselves when fighting. She sat in the middle of the ring and then lied on her back with her hands behind her head. She thought about her conversation with her mother. She now couldn't deny the fact that she still wanted to be with Nate. She almost even said that Nate was hers. Now she had to think about how to fix this. She wasn't changing. She was only fixing. Vanessa didn't know if she would go back down there or not, now. If she did, she wouldn't go back to that stupid school but she wouldn't trust that girl with Nate that long without seeing him. Yes it was for only at the most 4 hours but if she wasn't there stopping her, no one was. And there was the fact that if she wasn't there, that most of all the other girls would act as if he was single again. It seemed much simpler to just stay up here or go to the council. As she thought about what to do, she started to fall asleep and this time, because she was in such deep thought, she didn't realize what she was doing until it was too late. She found herself sitting in her father's meeting room and he was sitting in front of her reading something.

"So, Vanessa. When are you coming home?"

"I already am home. Where my mother lives is not my home. It's just a stupid temporary place that we are living at."

"Oh, that place isn't really temporary, well, not until you move out that is. You are 18 now, there is no stopping you from moving out. Except…" Her father trailed off.

"Except what?"

"You see, Nate is the thing that is keeping you from moving out. I know the slip up that you made while talking to your mother. Nate misses you and he needs you. Otherwise, he will be stuck in another relationship like the one that he had with Cassandra. And speaking of her, why are you using your dark magic? I told you not to do that once and now you have gone and scarred her."

"She deserved it."

"It doesn't matter. You shouldn't use it. I don't care that you were born with it. You haven't used it in years and now you're using it on this girl all because you are insecure about her?"

"Please." She said as she rolled her eyes. "I'm insecure about her? No. I'm not insecure about anything. Let alone that little bitch."

"Then why are you so worked up about her kissing your boyfriend when he didn't even kiss back and he pulled away?"

"Because she is just trying to get him back but she can't. She lost him a long time ago and by the looks of it, is never getting him back. I thought that I explained this all to mother."

"Are you even listening to yourself? You say that you blame him, her, and the council but you're defending him, beating up on her, and you haven't even mentioned the council yet."

"I'm not defending him. And the reason I haven't mentioned the council yet was because I was trying to ignore them right now."

"Good, then you aren't going to take them up on their offer." Vanessa thought about it. That was a good point. In fact her father was making a lot of good points and now that she was getting her head on straight, she could see clearer into what happened. "Yeah, I know. I'm getting better at this aren't I?"

"Get out of my head."

"But I'm not done talking with you yet and as long as we are in my meeting room, I can hear your thoughts."

"Then let's go someplace else. I don't like you listening to my thoughts."

Her father smiled. "Ok." He placed a finger on Vanessa's shoulder and they were at her house. All of the lights were off except for the one in the kitchen. "He came by earlier. Before he went to bed that is. You need to talk to him."

"No."

"Vanessa, he knows. He thinks he knows anyway. I know the council is really hesitant in your relationship but if you choose to turn it around tomorrow, it will work out and I can convince them that this is a serious one. Trust me; being with them for the past few years has made me get better at reading them. But I know you and I know them. You don't belong there. You belong as a fighter as I was but they have chosen us both and so we must go there. I don't want you to give up on fighting until you have to. I trained you as best I could for those who you have trained to be trainers and for those three that you teach just because you care for them."

"Three?"

"Yes. There is Seth, the first one that you have had a long history with since you two were born, Eric, the second one that you have known since he was born, and finally Nate. I know you've only known him for a week but he will stay for a lifetime. If you allow him of course."

"Is he sleeping?"

"For someone that doesn't care for him, you sure seemed interested."

"Is he?"

"No. He's up but in his room trying to make something for you."

"What?"

"I'm not telling, it's a surprise, but if you come down and talk to him, you'll know."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"I can't do this school thing. If I come back, I'm testing out of school. But I don't trust the girls at that school. Cassandra is more than likely to try him again and all of the other girls will too."

"I will tell you that if you do what you say, that Cassandra won't try him but will find someone else and cheat on him. Why do you think that she was so insecure about him cheating? She cheated on him more than once. He knew too. As for the other girls, I will tell you how to get them away. Only if you comeback."

"If I come back, will you leave?"

"I can only stay for such an amount of time. Don't worry though. I'll visit you more often. I promise."

"Could you promise another thing?"

"Yes?"

"Could you please not tell anyone of my decision of what I'm going to do?"

"Yes. I haven't told anyone yet of your choice of tomorrow's events but whatever you choose, I'll make sure that when the timing is right, the ones that should know will know."

"Ok. Thank you." She looked at the couch. Seth was lying there with the blanket half over him, half off of the couch. "What's he doing here?"

"He asked if he could stay here in case you came by. You know his powers. He knows how much Nate is missing you and if you let him in yesterday, he would know how much you are caring for Nate. You may want to deny it but I know how you feel. I went through something like his with Veronica. My parents weren't that thrilled about it though. Who could they blame though? One was a dark Angel and put curses on humans all the time. My mother knew though that since I could see almost everything coming, that I was doing the right thing. As you know, only the dark angels don't have powers like we do. My mother had time on her hands as we said when we were young. She could speed it up or slow it down but she could never go back. When I was young, I had wanted to ask your mother to marry me for so long but every time I went to the council, they denied that it was a serious relationship and I couldn't marry her unless I told her that I am what I am. It took 5 years after college to convince them that it was a serious relationship. I had been dating her since we were both juniors in high school. She had bugged me about getting married once we got out of college but the council said that we couldn't be that serious. They had watched her ever since we first started dating just waiting for her to mess up. Even thought you haven't been dating for more than a week, I can convince them that this is serious enough and since you had already declined their offer and basically told them to fuck off, they know that he won't keep you from them because you already made the decision that you won't be joining them until you have become of age in Angel time."

Vanessa felt bad. She had only been going out with Nate for a few days and it could be considered serious because of her father's powers but her father had to wait for years for his relationship with her mother to be considered serious but knowing how the council worked, she knew that there was another reason. She didn't ask about it though. She walked over to the door way of her kitchen. No one was in there. "Where's mother?"

"Sleeping. She was up making Seth's breakfast. He has a busy day tomorrow."

"What's he going to do?"

"He volunteered at the official training grounds and is going to be training some of the younger and newer fighters. His brother's going to be helping him too."

"Really? He never mentioned anything to me."

"He volunteered only today. He spent the whole day with Nate but wen Nate decided that he needed to head home and that Seth needed to get sleep, Seth came here and then we started talking. He decided that he should go there and volunteer and so I called them up and that's that."

"Hm. Sometimes I wish that everything was so simple as he has it."

"Think what you want to but his life isn't that simple at all. This whole week has him starting to be depressed. He has finally decided that he has lost you and never getting you back and all this time, you have been denying what has been going on and he has tried his hardest to get you to open your eyes. He may be a great friend, but it's hard for him. What he doesn't know is that tomorrow he will meet someone that he will be falling for." Her father turned to her. "I think that you need to think things through ad so I will let you go back and think."

Vanessa blinked and she woke up in her room on the mountain. She didn't like what she had been going through but it didn't help what her father said. She knew what she had to do but she didn't know how she would go through with it yet. All she knew was that she was going to get kicked out of that school tomorrow and then test out of high school.

**I know, I know. It's been a week since I said that I would post this chapter but I have been favoring my sleep and have had a case of writer's block on this chapter. I know what the general things that happened but in my mind, when typing this, it didn't really come out the first time and so I rewrote some parts too. There will be two more chapters after this one. Give me 2 weeks and they will both be up. As always, I hope that you are enjoying the story so far and tell me your thoughts. Review!**


	14. Nate's view Day 7

Chapter 14 (Nate's view)

Nate woke up in his bed. He sat up and then lied back down with his legs hanging off his bed. There was a knock on his door. "What?"

"I know that you're up. Come out here. There is someone here to see you." It was his mother. Nate thought for a second that it was Vanessa but knew it couldn't be. She couldn't just wake up this morning and forgive him. There was another knock on his door.

"Nate, don't we have someone to pick up?" It was Seth.

Nate knew that his thoughts were too good to be true. "I'll be right out." Nate stood up and went to his closet. He pulled on a black muscle shirt and a pair of jeans. His shoes were out in the living room and so he put on his socks and opened his door. Seth was leaning against the wall across from his door. "Have you eaten?"

"Your parents haven't gone to the store yet. They gave me some money and told us that after we pick Scotty up that we should go and get some food."

"Where do you want to go for breakfast?"

"I don't know. I'm not really familiar with places around here."

"Let's go to the place that I call home style." Nate went to the living room where his parents were and put on his shoes. "We're leaving." Seth followed him to his car and they got in. "Wow. This is different."

"What?"

"I'm driving you in my car." Seth and Nate chuckled. They drove off to the first place that Nate thought of. Vanessa's house. When he got in front of the house, Seth looked at him confused.

"Why here?"

"I have to talk to her before she leaves."

"Veronica?"

"Yeah."

"Ok." They got out and walked to the front door. Conner opened the door.

"Come on in. I had a feeling that you might show up. Veronica's in the kitchen making breakfast." Seth and Nate went in and sat on the couch.

"She hasn't come back has she?"

"No." Conner answered.

"Will I ever fix this?"

"Only time can tell."

"No, you can tell. I don't know how but you know. You know if I will fix this and you know how."

"No, I don't, I can't."

"Yes you can. I know it was you in my dream. I know that it was you that helped her." He pointed to the kitchen. "I know that you can see the future."

"I'm sorry, but I don't know. I can't."

Seth put his hand on Nate's shoulder. "And I have a few questions for you." He turned around to Seth. "What was it that Cassandra said that made you snap like that?"

"When?"

"You know when. Yesterday when we went to her and she said all of those things about Vanessa."

"Oh." Seth looked at Conner and Veronica walked in with a platter of food.

"Oh, hey Nate. I'm guessing that you want some food too?"

"Yes, thank you Veronica."

"No problem. I'll have your food in 10. "

"Thank you." Nate turned back to Seth. "I'm still waiting for my answer. What is it that she said that made you snap. I have never seen you that angry before."

"When you and Vanessa get back together, you two have some things to talk about." Conner said.

"So you do know that we are going to get back together. How?"

"I don't know."

"Ok. Fine, don't tell me." Nate went into the kitchen.

"So, I'm cooking pancakes, how do you like them? I have chocolate chips, blueberries, bananas. I even have peanut butter if you like them like Seth does."

"Um, I'll have blueberries."

"You are like my daughter, in more ways than fighting." Veronica smiled and then started making the batter.

"Veronica?"

"Hm?"

"Can I talk with you?"

"About?"

"you are going up to try and talk with Vanessa right?"

"Yes. What message do you want me to pass along?"

Nate sighed and put his forehead to the palms of his hands. "I don't know. I just know that I need her. It wasn't me that kissed her. I didn't even know it was her at first, I thought it was Vanessa. You were there. You guys told me that she would be there when I won. I should have known when I was first turned around that it wasn't here though. She's not one for public displays of affection. I knew it was the moment that I felt her lips that I knew that it wasn't her though. It didn't feel right. I pulled myself away and pushed her away from me and that's when I saw Vanessa. I don't know how much she saw but I knew that it was enough to get the wrong impression." Nate looked up as he heard a plate get set in front of him.

"It's going to be alright, I'll go and talk to her. I know that she doesn't think fondly of me but I think that I know why. But you must realize that she has always been like this. She just hasn't felt like this in years and now that she has had the reason to doubt the relationship and block off her feelings again, she took it. She might not want to admit it but she is afraid of what she is feeling. She has been kicked out of so many schools that I have lost count. Many of the times were because a girl threatened her and she took the challenge or a guy made a move on her and she didn't like it. She has gotten into more fights than schools she got kicked out of. The other times that she was kicked out were when a teacher tried to hit her or put a finger on her. Even if they threatened her that they would, she would threaten them back. They knew by her past that she would keep to those threats and so they reported her. When we moved here, about a month ago, I said that I would give her time. She spent most of her time up in her mountain. When she came down, I started looking for a school that would take her. I contacted your school and they said that they would take her and they wouldn't kick her out just because of threats that she made and they would make sure that all of her teachers let her do what she does and if there was any violence that they would call me. I didn't know what I would do then but I knew that that was the school for her. When she said that she would go for a week, I knew that something was beginning o change inside of her, I didn't know what it was until her father and I had a talk." Nate finished his pancakes. "Would you like some more?"

"No, I'm good."

Veronica took the plate and put it in the sink. "As I was saying, her father and I had a conversation. Before you ask if it was like how Conner spoke to you, yes it was in a dream. That is one thing that Vanessa and you need to talk about. But when we had talked, he had said that she would willingly go there and not get in a fight. When she came home the first day, she went to go and train on the mountain with Seth and his younger brother Eric. Seth came here that night and wondered where she was. He went and looked around and he probably found something because he almost immediately left when he came down the stairs. The next day, it was a little different. She might have not thought so but I could see the change that was going on in her." Seth and Conner came in with empty platters and handed them to Veronica. "I know that you have someone to pick up so I'll let you two go now. I might as well leave for the mountain." Nate nodded and then looked at Seth.

"Are you still coming with me?"

"Oh yeah, you still might want me around." He winked and Nate looked at Conner. He shook his head no and then turned to the fridge. Nate turned to Veronica. She nodded and then Seth walked out of the room and Nate followed. "SO are you taking me or following me?"

"Taking you if it's ok for you to leave your truck here."

"Yeah, it's ok. Now come on. I think that someone is waiting for us."

"Yeah." They got into the car and drove to the hospital. When they got to Scotty's room, the doctors were telling him what limits he had to put on his physical activity. Most of what he was saying was that he couldn't fight and that he wouldn't be able to do it for a while. Scotty was disappointed. The doctor looked up and saw Nate.

"You're the ones picking him up?'

"Yes sir."

"Alright, make sure that he doesn't do any sort of physical activity that might have a chance of reinjuring his ankle ok?"

"No problem. We'll make sure that he doesn't hurt himself." Nate said confidently. The doctor nodded and one of the nurses brought in a wheel chare and a pair of crutches. Nate and Seth helped Scotty into the wheel chair and then the nurse wheeled him outside. Nate went to the car and then pulled u p to the front where Seth and Scotty were waiting along with the nurse. They all helped Scotty in the car and then the nurse gave them the crutches and took the wheel chare inside. "Well, where are we going?"

"I don't know about you guys but I'm up for a work out."

"No. There will be none of that. Let's go back to my place. I have that first person shooter game that you have been dying to play."

"Alright." Scotty was disappointed but couldn't complain.

Nate drove to his place and saw his father kissing his mother goodbye. "Where are you going?"

"I'm just going to the office. They called me in needing something."

"Ok." Nate turned on the game and set it up.

"Hey Nate, I still have that money that your mother gave me for the food that we were supposed to bye. I'm going to go and get that food and be back later."

"Ok."

"So how is it, being friends with that guy knowing that he's probably talked to Vanessa and she won't talk to you?"

"Actually, she shut him out too. I just hope that her mother gets her to at least talk to me or go to school tomorrow."

"Don't worry about that. I don't know her as well as you but I do know that she cares for you. Even if it didn't look good, she knows you and she still cares for you. She will come around, it might take some time but she will."

"You know, you aren't known for your brain but you sure know how to say the right things to lift someone's spirits."

"Thank you. Now let's get to this game." Nate let his mind got off the subject of Vanessa for a while and focused on the game so that he could beat Scotty. He didn't know how long it had been but Seth had come and sat on the couch and watched Nate and Scotty as they played. Nate had now beaten Scotty at the game more than twice and he was starting to get hungry. He paused the game and looked at Scotty. He had his foot elevated and had some ice on it like the nurse at the hospital had told him to. It was now lunchtime and he could smell something cooking in the kitchen. This was his reality check. All of his thoughts went from lunch and the game to Vanessa. He wondered if she had changed her mind yet. He started thinking of what he would do if she waited months to change her mind. Conner said it himself, she will change her mind. He didn't know when and he didn't know the cause. It started to scare him. Something was happening up on the mountain but he had no clue what.

He had to do something. Something that would help somehow. He already got rid of Cassandra and with what happened with Seth, hopefully it was for good. He didn't know what would happen if she didn't go to school tomorrow. He couldn't do anything today though, he was too busy tonight. It was Sunday. He and Scotty always volunteered at the church on Sunday nights. They helped with the little toddlers and the babies. If they didn't need their help, they would get the youth group together and do something. Seth put his hand on Nate's shoulder. Reality check. His mother was walking into the room with two big plates filled with BLT sandwiches that were cut into big triangles. They were sat on the coffee table and everyone took one. "These are good." Scotty said.

Nate laughed "What do you expect? My mom made them. She rarely makes food but when she does, she makes some great food."

"So, what business do your parents work?" Seth asked as he put two more sandwiches in his mouth.

"My father is a salesman and my mother is his partner."

"What does he sell?"

"Car parts for old cars that aren't sold anymore. His company buys damaged old parts and makes them brand new. His company takes him to special orders all over the world for different types of cars but he likes the American models. Usually the company is mailed the part after a call is made so they know to set up for it but sometimes there is a part that is rare and so my parents go to them and inspect it and then bring it back to work on it if it's bad enough. Most of the time, they work on it there and then come back one or two weeks later depending on where they are in the world. The only reason that I don't go with them is because not only do I not want to but I have school. I know how to do what they do. I rebuilt my truck in the garage more than once. When I don't have any projects and have lots of time, I take it apart. That is a four car garage and there wasn't four cars in there because my parents were gone. I use that extra space for work." Nate looked at the two plates and there was only one sandwich left.

"You can have it. We ate most of them anyway."

"That's ok, I expected as much and I'm not that hungry."

"Eat. You need it."

'Nate, are we still volunteering tonight?"

"Yeah. I'll explain your ankle and you will be sitting in a chair looking after the sleeping babies. I'll be the one running around and taking care of them."

"ok."

"What are you two doing?"

"Scotty and I volunteer at the church on Sunday nights. Help out in the community you know."

"Yeah, is it alright if I help you two?"

"Great! That's another couple of hand you two can come with." Nate's mother said as she came in to take back the plates.

"It's no problem."

"Great." Nate smiled and then looked at Scotty. They had 4 hours until they needed to leave and so he thought about how he could waste the time. He thought about going up to the mountain but remembered that Scotty he never been up there and it wouldn't be the best decision. For all he knew, she was still shutting everyone out and hiding in her room.

"So what do we do until then?"

"I could try and beat you again." Scotty held up his controller.

"Yeah right." They played for the next couple of hours and Nate noticed that Seth wasn't sitting on the couch anymore. He looked around and heard his mother laughing in the kitchen. His father came in the front door and heard his wife laugh. Nate's father looked confused but walked in the kitchen. Nate stood knowing that Scotty was also wondering what his mother and Seth were talking about. He walked into the kitchen and saw Seth making hand gestures and telling a story. He looked at the time and then cleared his throat. They all looked at him. "It's time to start heading out."

"Ok." Nate left and heard Seth finish his story. It was something about a guy that tried to do something impossible. He handed Scotty his crutches and then helped him get up. When they started getting into the car, Seth came into the garage and helped them out. It didn't take them very long to get there and when they opened the door to the room of the babies, the adult that was always there and was in charge gasped when she saw Scotty in crutches. "Hi Alexandria."

"Oh my, what happened?"

"The tournament yesterday. He broke his ankle during his first match."

She still seemed speechless. "I'm ok."

""I'm glad." It was then that she saw Seth. "Who's this new gentleman?"

"His name is Seth. He'll be helping us tonight."

"Great. I heard that Abby's family is coming and they have a set of twins and her sister has a baby."

"Ok, I'm going to make sure that Scotty has a safe place to sit and all to watch them and then I'll show him what to do."

"Ok." Scotty walked to the rocking chair and sat down. Nate brought over a foot stool and some pillows and Scotty put his foot on it. There weren't any babies in the room and so Nate nodded at Scotty and then looked at Seth. He walked over to the counter and grabbed two glasses of apple juice. "Here."

"Thanks. So when do people start showing up?"

"In about 10 or so minutes."

"What are you going to do if Vanessa doesn't go to school tomorrow?"

"I don't know man. I hope she realizes the truth sooner than later."

"I wish I knew."

That triggered something that he knew that he put away too long. "That reminds me. You haven't answered my question. What did Cassandra say that made you break? I've never seen you like that before."

"So you are ok with her insulting your girlfriend?"

"No but it's nothing that Vanessa hadn't heard before and-"

"She would have snapped just like I did."

"What was it that she said that made you snap?"

"Vanessa is not a…"

"A what?"

"Witch. That's what made me snap. Lots of people like Vanessa and I find that one of the most offensive things to say."

"Why?"

"That's a good question to ask Vanessa. I'm not the one that has the ability to tell you. Only Vanessa can tell you." Nate was confused to say the least. He did say that it was people like him AND Vanessa. Why couldn't he tell him? He knew that he HAD to talk to Vanessa now. He had so many questions that her father and Seth say that only she could answer. HE turned to the door and saw that a woman named Abby walked in with someone he knew as a relative of her. Abby was carrying the twins and the other one was holding the other one.

"Hello, Nate, are you looking after the babies tonight?"

"Yeah. We'll take good care of them."

"Thank you."

"No problem." Nate said as he took the twins and Seth took the other one. The parents left and it wasn't long until Nate and Seth had their hands full with more children. Lots of them were sleeping and only one or two were awake. Scotty was holding one and trying to get it to sleep and Nate was holding the other one. It was definitely not going to sleep anytime soon. Seth had turned on the TV to the game that was on and so even if one of them were paying attention to the babies, they could simply look over at the TV and see what the score was.

The game was ending and people started coming in to take their children. It had been a long night with lots of dirty dippers. Nate didn't like to say it but it was a lot easier with Cassandra helping out than without her. Hopefully Vanessa was also just as good with Babies. It also didn't help that Scotty couldn't really move around and help. They made it though. He had hardly even thought about Vanessa. But now that everything had wound down, his mind shifted to Vanessa. What could he do that would help her come to him? It wasn't going to be that easy right? Her mother went up to her. Maybe she had changed her mind? If she had, would she talk to him? Seth seemed to know what he was thinking and put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. "It will be alright. She'll come around. What do you say that we all go back to your house and eat some dinner?"

"No, If you are hungry, I will buy you some food but it's late and Scotty and I have school tomorrow. Don't bother to pick me up tomorrow. I will be picking Scotty up and then heading off to school. I just hope that Vanessa will be there."

"Ok, well, are you going to drop Scotty off first or me?"

"We are going to his house first you help is appreciated and his is closer."

"Alright." They waited until the last baby was given to her father and left. They helped Scotty inside his house and then went to Vanessa's house. Nate didn't go in though. He knew that Vanessa couldn't be in there. Seth looked at him weirdly but Nate explained that he really needed sleep, even though sleep was one of the last things that he could do right now. He went home after he saw that Seth went inside and Conner and Veronica waved to him. When he got home, he couldn't help but ignore his parents and go straight to his room. He didn't know if it would help but even it looked terrible, he would still do it. He would sit at his desk and try and draw the best angel he could. The next time that he saw Vanessa, he would give it to her and she would have to say something about it. He drew and redrew the picture more than 20 times and still hadn't gotten it. He decided that it would be best for him to sleep on it because he still had to get up early in the morning. He didn't even bother to change into his pajama pants before he climbed in his bed and fell asleep.

**I know, I know. It's been a week since I said that I would post this chapter but I have been favoring my sleep and have had a case of writer's block on this chapter. I knew what was going to happen with Vanessa but I pulled most of this chapter out of the blew and then I read it over. I decided to rewrite this so this is more revised and I know it's REALLY short but there wasn't much I could do with Nate this day. There will be two more chapters after this one. Give me 2 weeks and they will both be up. As always, I hope that you are enjoying the story so far and tell me your thoughts. Review!**


	15. Vanessa's view Day 8

Chapter 15 (Vanessa's view) **PART ONE**  


3 o'clock. It was 3 o'clock in the morning. She was getting dressed for the school that starts in 4 hours but she couldn't help it. She couldn't get much sleep and she was an early riser. When she couldn't sleep, she started to meditate and decided the best way to get kicked out of that school. She would go to her first hour and have no problem. Then she would go and test out of school. It was the beginning of her senior year anyway. She would go straight to the school and wouldn't go to her house. She knew that her father would be up there soon enough and tell her what she needed to know. He was an early riser just like her and could see the future. Vanessa walked to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror giving a sigh trying to let some of her worries go. She looked down and saw the necklace that she had yet to put on or even move. She did like it. She also liked the pendant that he gave her. She sighed again and picked up the necklace and felt as her wings retracted themselves. She had liked this weekend because she let her wings out. Now she had to put them back and she didn't like it but she HAD TO. Vanessa also put on the bracelet that her mother made of her necklace that said Angels.

Vanessa looked in the mirror again and fixed her hair. She put the top half up and let the rest fall loose. It was like her hair when she went to the council except it wasn't braided. She started walking and then she looked at the time. 5:00. It surprised her that she had taken two whole hours to get ready. That was when she heard the door open. It was her father. "I see you're going to school today."

"Please." She scuffed. "You knew that I was going to do this all along and you also know what I'm going to do today too."

"Actually, there are things that I can't see. I came up here to see if you were or not. Your mother said that I should do it. I knew that you were going to make the decision to go down there eventually but I couldn't see when you were. now, do you want to know how to do this right?"

"I thought that you didn't like telling people the future. It was your gift and yours for a reason because most people would abuse it. And I wasn't supposed to know because I would change it. Not follow what your visions told you and do the exact opposite."

"I know that I say that but this is one of those exceptions because I know that you want him to be yours and for all the other girls to back off when you won't be there. You have to scare them. They already know what went down with Cassandra and so you go for her but not with your dark magic. Ok? That will expose us and you don't want that. You also have to make it so that the message can get out fast. Don't mess her up so badly that she had any permanent damage but I already know that once you get your hands on her, she will have to go to the hospital. There is no stopping that but don't kill her or do any permanent damage. She is human."

She was surprised. Her father had never been so serious and this was the most he had both warned her and told her about future. "Then how should I hurt her? And when? I'm taking my tests after first hour. That's the soonest that I can take them and I'll probably be done about lunch time."

"That leaves after lunch hours. I don't like that you won't be going to school but I know that it's for the best. It's only about a month into your senior year and you are 18. I can't stop you and neither can your mother. You are going to be busy anyway."

"Doing what?"

"You'll see. You'll like it too."

"Really?" Vanessa took that as a challenge.

"It's training. Now you can't say that you don't like to do that."

"Well..."

"No." He cut her off. "When I go back, I'm going to tell your mother. Seth and Eric are already at the training grounds and so they will learn when they return." He looked back to see the time. Vanessa did too and it was 5:15. "You should get going if you don't want to be late and if you want something to eat."

"No, I'm good. I'll just stay and eat something here. I do still have good food in the fridge in my room."

"Ok, I'm off. Remember what I said ok?"

"Fine. Hey dad?"

"Yeah?"

She walked up to him and gave him a hug. "I love you."

He hugged her back but tighter. "I love you too."

They let go of each other and he kissed her forehead. "Will I see you at lunch?"

"Yeah, tell mom by then ok?"

"Naw, I'll have it be a surprise."

"And here I thought that you were good." She laughed and so did he. It was times like this that she was going to miss. He dad waved as he closed the door and left. She knew that today was going to be exciting and would be nerve-racking if she got scared easily. She walked back to her room and sat on her bad. Thoughts went though her head and she couldn't even process them now. She decided that it was best that she meditate to not only get a hold of her thoughts but to pass the time. She sat with her back against the bed and meditated.

Nate was walking down his stairs with his backpack on one shoulder. He seemed both hopeful but doubtful. She already knew what it was about. It was about her. Hopeful that she would go to school and everything would go back to the way it was and doubtful that that would ever happen. He said his goodbyes to his parents and went to his car. It was as if Vanessa was right there with him. She could see, smell, and hear everything. She then was in Nate's car as he drove off. He didn't know that she was there and she didn't know how she got there but wanted to know what Nate was going to do. When they pulled up in front of her house, she rolled her eyes. It's just like him to do that but she couldn't blame him. She walked with him to her front door and heard the bell ring. "Did he just ring the door bell? I thought that he was comfortable enough to just walk in." She thought to herself and then her mother answered the door. It looked as though she had been up for a total of 5 minutes and got 30 minutes of sleep. She had her long black hair back in a loose pony tail and had pajamas and a fuzzy pink robe on. "Hey Nate, I'm sorry but she's not back. Her father went up there a while ago to see what she will do. He should be back any minute. If you would like, I have some breakfast here."

Vanessa shook her head. Her mother could be such a ditz sometimes, oblivious to some details. "No, I've got to go and get Scotty."

"Oh, ok. I'm sorry."

"No, It's ok. She still might go to school." It hurt Vanessa a little. He sounded like he had given up and then started to show more of his hopelessness. "I'll see you later. Hopefully." He went back to his car and Vanessa followed. She was in the car as he started to drive away. It was a little while later that that they had stopped in front of a house. Vanessa safely assumed that it was Scotty's house. Nate got out of the car and Vanessa walked with him to the front door and watched as Nate opened the door slowly as he knocked on the door. A small white fluff ball came out and ran around Nate's feet. "Anyone home!?"

A girl came out of the hallway and went to pick up the little fluff ball. "Hey Nate." Vanessa could tell that she was Scotty's sister. She had to be either 12 or 13 years old. "Nate's in his room."

"Thanks."

The girl giggled and Vanessa rolled her eyes. She knew that Nate was a lady's man and this was an 8th grader at most but she still didn't like that she was flirting. "No problem. Are you hungry?"

"No thanks. I just need to get Scotty."

Vanessa began to wonder why Scotty wasn't coming down by now but she followed him down the hallway and saw Scotty lying on his bed with his leg in a cast and elevated. She was thankful that he was dressed for school already. She gasped and put her hands on her mouth. Before she thought about it, she said "What happened?" She noticed that Nate looked around as if her heard her.

"What?"

"Oh, I thought that I heard something. It looks like you are all ready for school."

"Eh, I just wish that I didn't have to go on crutches."

"Yeah but you have to. Let's go and get some breakfast."

"Ok." Nate went over to Scotty and helped him and then they went back through the hallway and to Nate's car. Vanessa still sat in the front passenger seat because Scotty sat in the back to put his foot up. They drove off and Vanessa watched the two as they went into the breakfast place. It was then that she opened her eyes and was back in her bedroom on the mountain. She still didn't know how she was doing that when she was meditating and she started to wonder if she could do that to more than just Nate. It was time to leave do she couldn't try right now but she would tray later. She walked to her truck and when she opened the door, she saw that her father had brought her backpack and put it in her truck. Vanessa smirked knowing that she wouldn't need that for long.

On her way down the mountain, she thought about going and stopping at her house but then thought that it would be best just to go straight to the school. She got in the parking lot when the first bell rang and so she went straight to her class. The second bell rang when she had gotten to the hallway that her class was in and she could see Nate walk in to the class. When she walked through the door, the third bell rang. Mr. Sy looked at her and smiled. "I'm glad that you got here on time Ms. Black." She looked up at Nate and she noticed that he didn't notice her. He had his head down and seemed to be working on something. As she walked to her desk, she could feel the eyes on her and the tension in the room. She could see from the corner of her eye, Mr. Sy watching to see what was going to happen. Vanessa could feel her heart pounding and was sure that everyone in the room could hear it. She stood in front of his desk but he still didn't look up. "You know, It's really rude to ignore your girlfriend." Nate looked up slowly and then when their eyes met, he stood up and seemed to be in shock. She smiled and then wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry, I over reacted."

She felt his arms around her waist and pulled her even closer to him. She smiled and put her head in the crook of his neck. She started to get somewhat nervous even though he was still holding her tight because he wasn't saying anything. She pulled away and looked at him. She could see that he still was in some sort of shock. "Hi." He finally said. It sounded more like a breath as it came out. She couldn't help herself as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pull him close again.

"Hi." She smiled as he returned her embrace and hugged her tighter. "After class, we need to talk." Nate nodded and let her go. They both sat down and looked at the front of the class.

"Does anyone care to update me on the latest gossip on them?" Mr. Sy said as he watched as he sat down.

Nate laughed and then looked back at Vanessa. She rolled her eyes and then looked at Cassandra. She was still glaring at her but it had no effect on her. Vanessa then glared back and put Cassandra's glare to shame. Cassandra immediately turned and Vanessa could see the fear before she turned away. A guy in the front row raised his hand and Mr. Sy nodded saying that he can speak."Mr. Sy, It's a long story but to sum it up, Cassandra kissed Nate and Vanessa saw it at the wrong time and thought that Nate was kissing Cassandra. What I've heard was that she disappeared after that and this is the first that anyone has seen her. Everyone knows that Cassandra got an ugly warning from one of Vanessa's friends and ran off in fear."

"That's not true!" Cassandra yelled trying to get everyone to see that she was the victim and not Vanessa. When she saw that she had everyone's attention except for Vanessa's she spoke again. "After Nate won the tournament, I decided to congratulate him and when I went to hug him and congratulate him-"

"Hold on Cassandra, I have an Idea. This is government class isn't it? Well, let's learn about the court system." He stood there with a smile on his face. He had just made the latest gossip into a lesson for the day. This was what they had learned about and will be learning this week anyway. Vanessa noticed that all the people in the classroom started to move the desks and it started to look more like a court room. "Alright, So I will be the judge. Danny, you will pick 11 other people to be in the jury with you and then you three." He pointed to Vanessa, Nate and Cassandra. "You will be the defendant and the plaintiff. Both will have a lawyer and you can choose anyone that doesn't have a job." He then turned to two others assigning them to be the court clerk and the court reporter. Vanessa knew that Cassandra was already going to be the defendant because she was already trying to defend herself.

They were soon set up and Mr. Sy was sitting at his desk. Vanessa sat at the table that she was assigned and looked at Nate and who he had picked as their lawyer. This wasn't the first time that she had sat in a place like this and it probably wouldn't be the last. She had gotten into trouble with the Angels and had to be in court many times. She had been both on the defendant's side and on the prosecuting side. She knew that she would have to go there again because of Nate but she didn't care. Vanessa was just too used to this. When she got called up to the witness stand, she rolled her eyes. She sat in the desk and started answering the questions and told her story on what happened. When she got asked the question: where she had hidden this weekend, she had to think about it. "I was at a fighting gym and was training." It wasn't necessarily a lie; she could call her place on the mountain a gym. It had a lot of things a gym would have and more. "I had to get my anger out of me before I hurt her. Otherwise I would have been kicked out of the ring." She was dismissed and watched as Cassandra made her way to the witness stand.

She began to tell her side of the story. "Well, I'll start with the night before the tournament. I was at the store going to get some things that my mother needed and I saw Nate walking in. I went up to him to talk but all he would do was either ignore me or tell me to stop bothering him. I told him that I was going to watch him at the tournament tomorrow and hope to see him win. He blocked me out. I was going to have him at least be my friend again. We had been dating for 2 years now and I didn't want him to just leave my life. He's a part of it. So the next day, I went to the tournament and was surprised not to see Vanessa there. Apparently she had other and more important things to do than watch her boyfriend win the tournament. I had sat with Nate's parents who sat next to Vanessa's parents and friend." She said friend as though Vanessa and Seth were more than just friends. "I was there watching the fighters and when Nate got hurt in the Semi finals, I offered to take him to the medical room that was set up for the injured fighters but Nate once again shoved me away and had Vanessa's friend help him. When I saw him win the tournament, I got really excited and so I wanted to be one of the first ones to congratulate him. Vanessa wasn't there anyway, someone needed to do it. It also just came naturally because I had seen him win many other tournaments. I got into the ring and went to hug him but he was facing the other way and so I turned him around and I tripped a little and kissed him."

"Objection! She didn't trip your honor." Nate yelled out.

"Noted." Me. Sy seemed pleased that this was working out and better than he thought. "Please precede Cassandra."

"Well, When I noticed that I was kissing him, I jumped back and I also felt Nate push me. I lost balance and fell backwards. Then I saw something land near Nate's feet and He started to run after someone. I looked at the thing on the ground and saw Vanessa's mother run over and pick it up before I could grab it and give it to Nate. I then thought that something was wrong and so I decided to leave. Some of the fighters that lost their match had stopped me and started talking to me. Some of them were even hitting on me. That's when Nate and Vanessa's friend came up to me and threatened me after I told them that I knew from the start that Vanessa wasn't good for him." She was then asked what they said. Vanessa couldn't believe all that She had said. She had no clue what happened the night before but she did know what she had said to Seth and Nate when they approached her. She also knew what Seth had told her. Vanessa watched as Cassandra started to 'cry' trying to get emotional sympathy from everyone in the room. "They said that if I didn't leave Nate alone that they would... they would make me never see daylight and I would with that they had killed me."

Vanessa rolled her eyes again. This Bitch was just twisting the words that they had actually said. "Objection!" Nate yelled again.

"Nate, Let her finish and then you can tell your story. That objection is noted too." Mr. Sy nodded to Cassandra to finish. Vanessa could tell that even he didn't believe half of the things that she was saying.

"Thank you. By now, I had been frightened by Vanessa's friend." She still emphasized the word friend. "I ran out of the place and tried to get as far away as could from them. I knew about Vanessa's past and by the way that he was talking, I could tell who her influence was. He was worse than all the stories about her and I knew that he would keep his promise." She then waited to be questioned. There weren't any questions because they all knew that she was going to tell more lies. She stood and then went back to her seat. Vanessa watched as Nate walked up to the witness box.

He started to tell his story, also starting with the night before. "Well, I went to the store because I was thirsty and still hadn't gotten around to going to the store and thought that that was as good as a time than any. When I went there, Cassandra started to walk and talk to me. I told her that I was not in the mood to talk and that I no longer wanted anything to do with her. You all know how much control I let her have over me when we were together and she was trying to have it again. She started to bag on Vanessa and I wasn't going to have it. I told her to get lost and that's when she told me that she was going to the tournament and that there was nothing that I could do to stop her. She left and I bought my drinks and left. The next morning, I got up early to go and train and then unlocked the doors for the fighters that would be fighting in the tournament. When it was time to let in the public, I opened the doors and then I saw Vanessa's parents. I say Vanessa's friend that has become my friend over the past few days named Seth. They told me that Vanessa had an urgent meeting that she had to go to and would be back in time to see me win the tournament. I knew that if it was that important than I had to accept that and was happy to know that at the latest, she would be there to see me win. During the first round, after my fight, I stayed to watch Scotty's fight. He had broken his ankle in that fight. I couldn't go with him to the hospital because I still had the tournament to win but I went to see him afterwards. When I got injured in the semifinals, It was minor but I still needed some Ice. Cassandra said that she would take me but I didn't want her too and I still needed to talk to Seth. He took me and we talked. When it was time for the finals, I was better and I started to fight. It was tough but I won and I saw the crowd gathering around the ring. When I felt someone turning me around, I thought that it was Vanessa to surprise me but when I saw that it was Cassandra, she started to kiss me, I pushed her away and looked around. I then Saw Vanessa and she threw her necklace that I gave her at me. I ran to try and stop her from leaving and to listen to me but she was in her truck before I could reach her. I watched her drive off and I was devastated. Seth came out and helped me. We went in and went to Cassandra. I went up to her and said 'you!' She said 'What's up babe.' as if we were still together. I started to yell at her saying that we were no longer together and that she should get it through her thick skull of hers that I will never take her back. She then retorted saying that Vanessa was a bitch for coming into our lives and was a witch for putting me under a spell. Now mind you that Seth is not a very violent person but if you insult his friends then he won't stand for it. He said that Cassandra was the bitch and Not Vanessa and started cussing Cassandra out saying that if he ever saw her slutty ass again, he would make sure that she would never see the light of day and that she would wish that she were dead. I could tell that she was afraid and she ran away. Then I went to see how Scotty was doing in the hospital. After that, I went to see if I could try and reason with Vanessa. Yes, I knew where she was at and she was telling the truth when she said that she was at a fighting gym. She took me there once and Seth took me there. She had a training room to herself and she locked herself away and trained. I couldn't get in there and so I left her necklace and her birthday present there for her." Vanessa heard some gasp. "Yes, it was Vanessa's birthday Saturday. I had something else special planned but I couldn't do that because of what happened." He then waited for any questions. He was asked what he got her as a present and he looked at Vanessa. She was wearing her necklace but he didn't know if she had the charm with her. "It was a butterfly pendant. Because when I'm around her, she gives them to me in my stomach." All of the girls made an aww at the meaning behind it.

"That is all." Mr. Sy said as he looked at the jury. "We will now take your final statements."

Vanessa stood. "I don't care if Cassandra still thinks that I am the one that made him break up with her and go out with me but she is the one that almost made Nate and I break up. Thankfully I have realized that she is the reason and Nate was not."

She sat down and Nate stood. "I may have been with Cassandra but that's over and has been for a while. My heart lies with Vanessa now and there was nothing that could change that." There was another aww from the girls in the room.

Nate sat down and Cassandra stood up. "I may have accidentally kissed Nate but if it wasn't for that Bitch that stole him away from me, this would have never happened."

She sat down and Mr. Sy looked at the clock. It was 5 min. till the bell rang. "I know that this isn't how it usually works but we are almost out of time and so I have all given you a whiteboard and marker if you think that Cassandra is in the wrong than you put guilty. If you think otherwise than write not guilty on the board. The one that has the most wins. They waited until they were all done. writing and then they were told to hold their whiteboards up. only three of them said not guilty and they were Cassandra's friends that she had cried to all weekend. "Alright, they have spoken. Cassandra is found guilty of trying to break Nate and Vanessa up." The people in the class that were the audience cheered and Vanessa turned to Nate and hugged him.

"I'm sorry I ever blamed this on you."

"It's alright, you're here now."

She pulled away from him. "Um. About that."

"What?"

"I'm going to get tested out of high school and am going to get kicked out after I beat up Cassandra." Nate rolled his eyes.

"Your father said that we needed to talk about a lot of things."

"Come with me to lunch. We can talk about everything then."

"But I need to take Scotty with me."

Vanessa remembered what happened to Scotty and then remembered that Nate said something about that when he was giving his side of the story. "Ok, We can take him to my house, I have room in my truck for him and we can both help him in and out of the truck."

"Ok. When are you testing out?"

"During second and third hour. I should be done by lunch. When I come back after lunch, I will go and kick Cassandra's ass and then go to the office to get my finished paperwork. Since I tested out of this school, I will go to the graduation ceremony at the end of the year but until then, I'm not coming back. I have to beat Cassandra up not only because she deserves it but because then all the other girls won't go after you once I leave." Vanessa turned her head to the door when the bell rang. They both stood up and then Mr. Sy called them over.

"Well, Vanessa, I hear that you are on the list of people who wish to test out of school today. Not many are taking it. Are you up for the challenge?"

"It won't really be a challenge, I've learned all of what they are testing me on and I'm not worried."

"I will miss the drama that seems to attract around Nate's personal life. It would be best if both of you were here to tell me what's going on but I guess that having Nate in here will have to do. There is no doubt in my mind that you will pass the test and be out of this class." He leaned in to whisper in her ear. "If your father hasn't told you yet, the council is still against your decision of Nate and testing out of school." Vanessa's eyes widened. He backed away and smiled at her. It was then that she noticed his ring. It had the council's wing on it.

"How?"

"Your father and I go way back. We used to train together."

Vanessa smiled and then looked back at Nate. "I guess I should be going, the test starts in 5 minutes."

Nate smiled and then kissed her cheek. "I'll see you in the parking lot then?"

"At Lunch." She smiled as she walked out the door. It didn't take that long for her to get to the classroom that had only a few people ready to take the test. The teacher came in shortly after her and then started to explain the test. She said that they all had to finish before the school day was up and if they weren't done by lunch. which she didn't think that any of them would, they would get a 15 minute lunch break and would be given a sandwich. Vanessa couldn't help but smirk. She would be glad to surprise the teacher and when she got a perfect score, it would surprise her even more. She was handed the test and started it. It wasn't difficult and it was even easier than she originally thought. She went through it and it helped that it was multiple choice. When she was done, she checked all of it. She still had about 10 minutes until her lunch starts and when she was done checking it, she stood and the bell rang when she handed the test to the teacher.

"Are you sure you don't want to look at it again, it seems as though you rushed through it."

"I already looked through it. I'm willing to bet that I got all of them right too."

"Alright, let me see your arms, and hands. And pull out your pockets too."

Vanessa knew that the teacher thought that she had cheated and so she showed the teacher her arms, hands, and pulled out her pockets. The teacher then went and inspected the seat that she sat in. There wasn't anything to be found and so the teacher let her go. She knew that she passed already and headed to her truck. She saw Scotty on his crutches and Nate walking next to him. "Hey."

Nate turned around and smiled when he saw Vanessa. "Hi."

Scotty turned his head towards Vanessa as she started walking closer to them. "Hey Vanessa. I'm glad that you and Nate made up. I didn't know if I was going to hear the end of it from him. Vanessa smiled and then they all started walking to her truck. Vanessa helped Scotty from the inside of her truck while Nate helped him from the outside. Vanessa had more than enough room to have Scotty elevate his foot in the back seat of her truck. Vanessa then got in the driver's seat and Nate got in the passenger's side. She drove to her house and She didn't fail to notice the look on Scotty's face. "This is Your house?"

It reminded her of the first time that Nate went to her house. He was surprised that she's the one that lived here too. "If you think that's good, you should see the inside." She laughed a bit. It wasn't all that special to her either inside or out. It was nothing like any of the other houses that she had lived in. The only thing that seemed to be the same all the time was her room and she was thankful for that. "Vanessa?"

"Hm?"

"Where's Seth?"

"Oh, he's off training others today. He and his brother volunteered last night."

"When did you decide to go home?"

"Well, I decided to go home yesterday evening when my mother left but I haven't told her and the only one that knows is my father. I haven't really been home yet. I left the mountain this morning for school and I didn't stop by or anything."

"That reminds me, We are going to talk right?"

"Yeah, I just need to speak with my father first." Nate nodded and She parked in her garage. When they got Scotty out of the truck and went inside, her mother was in the kitchen and her father was on the couch. "MOM! I'm home!" She yelled and both Nate and Scotty sat on the couch. Vanessa's mother ran in from the kitchen with tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

When she saw her daughter, she ran to her and gave her a tight hug. "Don't you ever scare me like that again."

"You saw me yesterday."

"I know but I didn't know when I would see you again and I was afraid that you would just stay up there. I didn't think that anything that I said would sink in and you would... Would..." Vanessa could feel her mother start sobbing. She didn't think that her mother cared that much of what she did with her life. Ever since the second move, her mother started to drift away from her life.

"Well, I'm back now but I'm not going to go to school anymore." Her mother looked at her confused. "I took the test to test out of school and there's no doubt that I passed. I'm going back to get my results and beat up Cassandra." Now her mother gave her a dirty look of disapproval. "Don't blame me. She's got it coming and it was father that told me that I had to if I wanted all the other girls to stay away from Nate when I'm not there. I need to scare them and this is the way to do it." Her mother then turned and put her hands on her hips and then glared at her husband. He hadn't been back for a full week and he was already causing problems.

Vanessa's father stood in defense and Vanessa took the chance to go to the kitchen and look for what to eat. There was enough to feed her father, Seth, and Eric. It surprised her because she thought that they were supposed to be at the training grounds all day. She walked back into the living room and saw her mother yelling at her father for saying that getting into a fight would fix all of her problems. 'Well, that's not true, I still have many problems, and that wouldn't be considered a fight anyway.' she thought to herself. 'I might as well help my dad in this.' "It's not like I wouldn't have beaten her ass anyway. She has it coming. He only told me that I would have to do it if I want the other girls in the school to not to through them selves at him. You should have seen them when he was single. They were huddled around him and they tried to follow him into the bathroom. That's not going to happen when I'm not there." Vanessa's mother seemed to understand and Vanessa pointed at her father. "We need to talk." HE nodded and then followed her into the kitchen.

"What?"

"What am I supposed to tell Nate? I can't tell him everything. You know how much trouble I'm getting myself into with just being with him."

"Just explain the basics. It will do for now. There will be a trial in a few months and Nate will have to go. Don't tell him that now though."

"Ok, And another thing. Who come I didn't know that Mr. Sy was an Angel?"

"Jeff? I don't know. I never really got around to telling you. He's always wearing that ring anyway, you could have noticed it by now."

"I don't get that close to people. I only saw it today when he spoke to me after class." She lost her train of thought for a moment when she heard Nate call her name. "We will finish this later. I still don't know exactly what to say to him. I didn't think that I would have to do this for a while." She took a breath and then walked into the living room. "Mother, if you need me or Nate, we will be in my room." She turned and heard Nate stand up from sitting on the couch. Vanessa rolled her eyes at her mother. She had been talking Scotty's ears off, and in her opinion, being too concerned about him. He was fine, sure he wasn't going to heal as fast as she would but he was going to be fine. When she got in her room, she walked to her balcony still trying to think how she was going to put it. She heard her door close slowly and hesitantly but she was glad that he was closing it. She didn't think that it would matter except it gave them some privacy.

"What ever it is, I can take it." She heard from behind her. She smirked knowing that he must be thinking of the worst possible things that she could say to him. She turned to see him three feet behind her standing there awkwardly not knowing what to do. She didn't know what to do but she smirked and walked over to him. Wrapping her arms around him, she put her head on his shoulder and sighed.

"Nate, I'm sorry."

"It's ok, I thought we went through this." He said while wrapping his arms around her waist. She immediately felt comfort flow through her.

"That's not what I'm sorry for."

He slightly pulled away from her without letting her go and looked at her. "What is it?"

"I've hidden something from you and I need to tell you before this continues."

He held her tighter but brought one hand up to her chin to have her look at him. "What ever it is, It won't change anything."

She knew that he was telling the truth just by the look in his eyes. She pulled away from him and then walked to her balcony. She took off her bracelet and then looked back at him. "You are right about my father. He can see the future." She watched as he nodded and figured that he was waiting for an explanation because he wasn't talking. "Nate," She took a breath. "I'm not human." he was about to say something but she put her and up and he stopped. "I'm not an alien with special powers or from another planet. She reached behind her neck to get ready to take off her necklace. "I'm an angel." He looked confused and she unhooked her necklace and felt as her wings spread and silently sighed in the feeling of letting her wings out freely. She then watched as his eyes widened. "My father is too and that's why he can read minds."

There was silence for a minute before he walked over to her and ran his hand over the top of her right-wing and smiled. She became confused but liked that he wasn't running away. "Wow." She smiled now that he had said something. "This is unexpected." She looked at him and they locked eyes. "Why did you hide this?"

"It's almost forbidden for humans to know. There's a lot to explain so this might take a while." He nodded and she put her necklace back on. Once it was clipped her wings retreated back into her back. "First of all," She started as she put her bracelet on. "My mother is human and my father is a full-blooded Angel." She sat with her back against the rails of her balcony and Nate sat next to her intertwining their fingers. She rested her head on his shoulder. "It is only under certain circumstances that Angels can reveal to others what they are. Think of it like an aristocracy. There is a group of Angels that sees over everything and makes sure that everything is followed by the rules. They are called the council. Only few are chosen for it, they can't back out and they have no control over it. They are chosen at a young age and are chosen because of the power they posses. My father was chosen and that's why he has been gone for so long and the reason we moved the first time. He was chosen because he can see the future." She looked at Nate and he seemed to be listening and in deep thought about what she was saying. She looked down at the ground knowing that she would have to tell him that she was also chosen. "He's not the only one with a power but he is the only one that has that power. Some powers are common and others only have one person that has it. I have a unique power too." She was still looking at the ground but could tell that Nate had looked at her. "I also might be one of the few Angels that have more than one power. We don't know what it is yet but before you ask, yes, I have been chosen to be in the council. That's why I couldn't be at your match Saturday. Every year on my birthday i have a meeting with them and I hate it. I hate them They are nothing but a bunch of old men that care only about themselves. My father is the only exception and maybe Mr. Sy. I still need to talk to my dad about that."

"Mr. Sy is an Angel!?"

"I didn't know until after class today. That's why I have to talk to my father about it. Seth is also an Angel. He's full-blooded though."

Nate stopped holding her hand and put his arm around her. "So, if you were chosen for this council, and your father had too, why aren't you gone like him all the time?"

"Well, I'm not of age. Angels have to become of age before they could join any type of council. There are many different ones but this one is the highest of the highest. My father is of age and has been for several years now. Angels become of age at 40. I'm not leaving any time soon." She decided not to tell him about the coming of age in the human world because she wasn't going to say yes.

"So are Angels beings that are 'dead' and liven in heaven or are they like humans but live in some place like a separate dimension?"

"Yes and no. Yes, we are like humans but we can live anywhere we please. I'm living here aren't I?" Nate nodded and she continued. "No, because it's not a separate dimension and we can die. Even before we die, we can choose are path. There are dark and evil Angels. Some humans like to mix them up with demons but demons can change shape. Angels can't. If we choose to go dark or be evil, we die instantly. My Father, even though he is a full-blooded Angel, has some dark Blood in him because his father was a dark Angel. I have dark blood in me but only enough to give me limited power. I don't use it often but when I do, It is because of a purpose and I use it for good. Dark Angels don't have powers like the good angels. They all have the same powers. Before you come to the conclusion yourself, I am the one that gave that cut to Cassandra. When I saw how you two were and how she was hurting you, I figured that she needed to feel it too. I knew that I shouldn't have done it psychologically but I knew that by doing that, you would be hurt too so I hurt her physically. She caught me at the diner when I took away the spell and so she called me a witch. Despite what you and many others might believe, there are no good witches and they are all looked down upon by the Angels. That's why Seth snapped when she called me a witch. It's worse than anything that I could have called her. Any time she got jealous of you or flirted with someone else, she would feel pain. Then On Saturday, and I left, I gave her another one but this one is different. She's going to have a scar that looks like a cat scratched her. Anytime that she touches you, she will feel pain. It won't bleed like the first one, it will just be a scar."

"Ok, I see your reasoning. Now, You said that Seth is an Angel too?"

"Yeah."

"What's his power?"

"He can sense people's emotions."

"You have yet to tell me your power."

"I have a photographic memory and I can sort of tell if someone is easy of convincing or really stubborn but the council doesn't really count that as a power."

"What do you think is your second power?"

"I don't know what to call it but when I meditate, I can," She tried to think of how to explain it without sounding weird. "It's as if I'm... It's an 'out of body' experience."

"How?"

"Well, I don't really know, it started the day that you brought me to the ring. I was meditating and I started hearing your footsteps and then I started seeing you open and lock doors when you were closing up. Then this morning I was meditating and It was as if I was with you since you woke up." Vanessa noticed that what she said had struck something in him. "What?"

"It's just, I thought I heard your voice at Scotty's house this morning."

"I was there. I don't really have any control over it yet so sometimes it doesn't happen but most of the time it happens."

"Hmm." She finally looked up from the ground and looked at Nate. "So, Why aren't your wings out now?"

She pointed to her necklace that Nate had given her. "My mother puts a special spell that she was taught by Seth's mother that makes my wings retract on this necklace and my bracelet. It's so I can live in this world without being found out. Seth has one too."

"Hm." Nate stood up and put his hand out for Vanessa. She took it and when she got on her feet, Nate put his arms around her. "Thank you."

"For?"

"Telling me. I was wondering a lot and couldn't get any answers from your parents or Seth. I they said that I would have to ask you about it."

"Thank you, for understanding." She was glad that he accepted this and didn't just go running.

"What did I tell you before? What ever it was, It wasn't going to change anything." She looked up at him and kissed him. The spark was there but it didn't hurt. She wondered what was causing it but right now, she didn't care. She heard her mother come out the back door and yell up to her that lunch was ready. Vanessa rolled her eyes and was sure that Nate heard her mother but he only pulled her closer to him. She knew that this was going to work out. Even if her father didn't say anything. In this moment, she knew that everything would work out. She broke the kiss. "We should go eat lunch."

"I think I'm looking at something sweet right now." He said before he kissed her again.

She smiled and then pulled away from him. "I need lunch."

"Ok."

Vanessa smiled and they walked down to the living room. Scotty was lying down on the couch and eating a bunch of grilled cheese and Vanessa was surprised to see Seth and Eric on the Love seat eating. She walked into the kitchen and saw her father eating at the counter and her mother was placing a few sandwiches on a plate and then some fruit. "Hey, here's your guys's plate. If I knew that Scotty ate so much, I would have bought more plates." She gave a dirty look to her husband.

"It's no problem Veronica. I think we can share a plate." Nate said as he grabbed the plate and then walked to the living room.

Vanessa stayed back and walked over to her father. "He knows."

"He won't say anything to anyone." She didn't fail to see the smirk on her father's face. She decided to ignore it and would bring it up when she finished the conversation later. She headed out to the living room and saw Nate sitting on the floor with the food on the coffee table. She sat next to him and grabbed herself a sandwich.

"Vanessa?" Eric started "I met someone today and he says that he knows you. I was surprised because he was coming out of a training session with Seth."

"Really?" She looked at Seth. "Who?"

"I don't know. I trained lots of people today and none of them mentioned that to me."

"Well, He was about your age and had longish black hair. He had on a plain black undershirt and had bright blue eyes."

"Oh, him?" Seth asked. "I didn't recognize him from anywhere."

Vanessa knew who they were talking about and she hated him. He was her age, exactly her age. He was a full-blooded Angel and he was also someone who was chosen to be in the council. Both Vanessa and him were chosen on the same day and It wasn't really him that she hated. It was his power and she hated how and when he used it. She felt Nate put his arm around her and pulled her slightly closer to him. "What is it?" He asked quietly.

"I know him. His name is Prince. I find it fitting because he is the prince of all stupidity."

"How did he know that I knew you?"

Vanessa looked at Scotty and saw that he was too wrapped up almost inhaling his food to know what they were all talking about. She was starting to think that he was an angel but knew that it wasn't true. "His mind is well-developed. It's almost as if he could read people's mind." Eric nodded in understanding and so did Seth. She looked at Nate and he seemed to get what she was saying. "We met when we were both chosen for the council."

"Wait, he was chosen?"

"Yeah. Only one other has had his ability and now has earned his halo."

Nate looked at her and she leaned over and whispered that she would explain later. He nodded and smiled. Scotty finally seemed to finish his food and let out a loud burp. Eric and Seth started laughing and Vanessa rolled her eyes. She noticed Nate scowling at Scotty and then put her head on his shoulder. "It's ok, not the best I've heard. Those two over there are the champs at it." Nate laughed and Vanessa took the plate. It was now empty and she brought it to the kitchen. "Eric got to meet Prince today."

Her father knew all about him and how much Vanessa had trained her mind so that Prince could only catch a few stray thoughts when they were in the same room. "How did they meet? He's too old to be trained by Eric. Even if Eric is as strong and as talented as he is. Seth would be the one to train him."

"Apparently, Eric was going to where Seth was and Prince said that he knew me."

"Hm. Well, I'll find out what he's up to because if he's suddenly that good fighting to be training with Seth, He's up to something. You relax until I find that out and continue with your plan."

"Ok. She went back to the living room and saw Nate starting to help Scotty and Seth and Eric were standing saying their goodbyes. "It's time to leave?"

"Yeah, unlike you, some of us still have to go to school." Nate teased. Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"I'm going back. Just today's my last day." She smiled and then looked back at her parents in the kitchen. "Bye."

Her parents smiled and nodded. She then walked into the garage and saw Scotty getting into her truck. She got in the driver's seat and Nate got in and stopped her before she turned the key to start the truck. She looked at him confused and he leaved over to whisper in her ear. "Meet me at the ring after school. I have an idea if your up to it."

"Ok." She then drove to school. When she got there, they helped Scotty out and got him to his next class. They then had a few minutes to spare and walked to the front office to get her test results. The teacher that gave it to her was there and when Vanessa walked in, her eyes widened. "I'm here for my test results."

"Ms. Black?"

"Yes."

"I'm surprised to say that you passed with a perfect score. How did you?"

"Photographic memory and I've been waiting to take this test for a while but all the other schools I went to, I had to be a senior to take it."

"Ahh. Well, you have a choice, are you going to get your diploma in the mail or are you going to graduation at the end of the school year?"

"I'm going to go to graduation."

"Alright. Here you go." She handed the paperwork to Vanessa and smiled. "Congratulations Ms. Black. I'll see you in the spring."

Vanessa nodded and then left with Nate. "So, when is this fight going to happen?"

Vanessa saw Cassandra walking with a few of her friends behind her the way popular girls do and Vanessa smirked. "Right now." She walked over to Cassandra and Cassandra's face went from a smile to a scowl as soon as she caught the sight of Vanessa. "What do you want?"

Vanessa smirked and a flash of evil in her eye. "Payback." She saw the fear in Cassandra and punched her in the face. It was soft enough not to cause damage to the brain but she was going to have a black eye and by that landing, a broken nose. There was blood starting to get on the concrete. Cassandra's friends gasped when they saw it and Vanessa bent down to get on her level. She was now getting up and narrowed her eyes at Vanessa.

"You are going to pay!" She took a swing at Vanessa but Vanessa grabbed her wrist and pulled her up to stand on her feet.

"I don't think so." She tightened her grip. "You kissed my boyfriend in an attempt to break us up but what you don't understand is that I know you have cheated on him before and that's why you were so concerned about him cheating on you. You didn't deserve him and he tolerated you anyway. It's over and so go look for someone else to feel insecure about. Don't you ever touch him again. Vanessa dropped her and she fell on her back. there was a good amount of people who were now watching and she liked it that way. She heard the bell ring but no one in the vicinity was leaving. She was surprised that none of the teachers were coming to stop her from beating her ass. Vanessa slowly stood on her feet and one of her friends rushed and helped her not minding the blood that she was getting on her.

"Look bitch. You have flipped my world upside down. I don't deny that you are a pretty toy for guys to look at but I'm sure that you are used and when Nate realizes it, he'll come crawling back to me. I don't give a fuck that you know of my past but I know of yours you Wit-" She couldn't finish her sentence because Vanessa popped a good one and broke a tooth. Cassandra and her friend both lost their balance and Cassandra spit blood.

Nate walked up behind Vanessa and put his arm around her. "Did you get any blood on you?"

"No." Vanessa smiled and looked at her knuckles. She didn't have any damage on her but Cassandra had a black eye, a chipped tooth, and a broken nose. It was good enough to spook the girls on campus and she looked up at Nate.

"Cassandra?" Nate said wanting to say something.

She looked up at her ex-boyfriend with some hope. "Yes?"

"Vanessa isn't used but almost every guy on campus can agree with me when I say that you are the most used and trashed piece of slutty shit there is." Vanessa enjoyed the hope in Cassandra's eyes fade to nothing but regret and anger. Vanessa smirked as she left.

"You might want to call a teacher now. She's going to need her nose looked at. If they ask, she fell down the many flights of stairs and you tried to carry her somewhere and she lost balance and broke her nose." Vanessa saw lots of people nod and she left for her truck with Nate by her side. When she was at her truck she turned to him. "So I guess I'll see you at the ring when school's over."

"Yep." He went to kiss her cheek and she turned so he caught her lips. He didn't object and pulled her close to him. When she heard the minute bell, she broke the kiss and gave him a small peck as she turned and got in her truck. He smiled and went to class. She sure hoped that she didn't get into trouble if he was late to his next class but with the commotion about Cassandra, she didn't think that it would be that bad. She went home and saw her father smirk and then chuckle a little.

"What?"

"Nice." Her mother came out and heard what her father had said. With a smack to her husband's shoulder, she went up to Vanessa and scowled.

"Fell down some stairs?" Vanessa could tell how much disbelief her mother had and the anger in her words.

"How?"

Her mother grabbed the collar of her shirt and almost dragged her into the living room. She noticed that on the TV was her school and ambulance with someone getting in. The reporter then came on the screen and started talking. "Every teacher here at this High school is speechless at the story that every student confirms is true. Some say that they only heard what happened but many said that they saw it all happen. Apparently this senior Cassandra Blair was walking down the hall way of the third story building and tripped when walking down the stairs, falling down the three flights. Stories say that not many of the students use the stairs and prefer the elevator and the few that were at the base of the stairs going to class, saw her and tried to help her to the nurse but she had lost her balance landing face first and broke her nose. It may seem like an unbelievable possibility but no one is denying it. The victim herself has become distraught and will not speak on the matter. She is being taken to the local hospital right now to make sure tat she didn't have any brain damage and will be taken care of. This is your local news reporter Sunny reporting for the local news. Back to you Jim."

Vanessa smirked and then her mother turned to face her. "Do you care to explain?"

"I did what dad told me to. I also passed and no longer have to go." She held up her paperwork all signed and ready. "Also, when I left, I might have told them to tell everyone that story. I might have scared them with what I did more than I intended." She laughed at the thought. Even all the boys thought that she was tough enough to beat them up and she even do much damage to Cassandra. "Well, I'm tired so I'm going to sleep. Wake me up when schools over."

"What?" Her mother asked.

"Nate asked me to meet him at the Ring after the school's done."

"Ok." Vanessa went to her room and dropped her bag for the last time by the side of her desk and flopped down on her bed. Today had been good. She still needed to explain some things to Nate but he understood and it's official that this relationship is serious. She felt sleep coming and when it did,she welcomed it.

**Yeah, I'm stopping here. This chapter is already over 10,000 words so I'm splitting this day into 2 parts. Tell me what you think and REVIEW. It's late and Nate's view won't be for another week but My computer's being stupid so I have to wait to get on the other one that I have access to and that's only for 3 or 4 hours at most. Sorry for all these delays but life happens.**


	16. Nate's view Day 8

Day eight (Nate's view) **Part One**

Nate was awake. Sitting in his room, upright on the floor? "How did I get on the floor?" he asked himself. "When did I get on the floor?" He stood and almost fell again noticing that he was practically cocooned in his blanket that was only partially on the end of his bed. When he sat back down again, he remembered some of his dream from the night before.

**He was getting to school in his car when he saw a girl that made his heart jump. He parked and she came over and then just leaned on his car without saying a word. "Hey." He said nervously after a few minutes of the deafening silence between the two. She said nothing. Didn't even acknowledged that he said anything to her. "Look, I know you're mad with me but it-" She had looked up at him when he said that but the look on her face was nothing like what he would have imagined. She had tears in her eyes and she looked completely broken. He wanted to console her and help her but couldn't think of how and when he saw the tear run down her left cheek, he couldn't even stop himself. He turned to her and with his thumb wiped the water off her face. "I miss you." He whispered and looked into her eyes. "I don't know how broken you are but If I could have stopped her from doing it, if I wasn't caught off guard, if I realized it sooner." He embraced her in his arms and her tears were now freely flowing, making his shirt wet. "I'm sorry." She pulled away from him and smiled as she wiped her tears. **

**"I know." She said with a smile. "Oh, my. I'm sorry. Now you have a wet spot on your shirt." He smiled and leaned in to her. His lips were about to connect with her's but he heard someone clear their throat. He looked up and saw someone that he didn't expect to here. He had shock written all over his face when he saw who it was. Vanessa looked up at him and then looked behind her. "Hi daddy, why are you here?"**

**"Oh, I need to have a talk with Nate, alone." **

**Vanessa nodded and then walked to her first class. Nate watched her as she left and then at Conner. "Talk about what?" he asked as he realized that Conner had already started to walk away. "Sir? Where are you going?"**

**"Come with me, I want to show you something."**

**"Can it wait? I have school." He said as he turned around and saw only white. When he turned to look back at Vanessa's father, they were in a breakfast diner that he liked to go to sometimes. It was only when his parents were in town that he went there though, "What's going on?"**

**"You're in a dream. Your dream. Go a head, picture a place to be right now." Nate thought about it. Where would he like to be right now? Then it hit him. **

**He closed his eyes tight and thought real hard of what that place looked like. When he opened his eyes, he liked what he saw. He was exactly where he wished to be. He looked around and it was a little different than when he saw it last but he could tell he was in the right place. **

**"So, why did you choose this place?" **

**"I don't know. It's where she is right now. I want to at least be near her." He said a little cautious. **

**"Well, I have to disagree with you. She's not here. This place is empty. It won't be in a little while but right now, it's empty. She's on her way in fact. She's not how you remember her though. This may seem strange for you but you must keep this a secret. You are here 'in spirit' some might say but she won't be able to see you. She's a little younger than how you remember her."**

**"How much younger?"**

**Conner seemed to hesitate a little but eventually said, "About 6 years younger."**

**Nate's eyes opened in shock. "6 years?" He thought back to if she told him anything about what had happened to her 6 years ago but nothing clicked. "You said that this is a dream. Right?"  
**

**"Sort of. You are sleeping, in a dream like state but you can't really control it. I'm putting you in a memory of her's. You must know a few things before you talk to her when she comes down."**

**Nate nodded but was still a little confused. "So, I'm in her memory. I need to know this memory of her's to do what?"**

**"To understand her a little more. She has not always been the cold and closed off person that she is now. She wasn't all that friendly to begin with but she wasn't as extreme as she is now. This is the night before I had to leave her. Remind you that I had no choice." Nate now understood what was going on better. "You remember having the conversation with Seth that he and Vanessa were once a thing? This is in that time period. Please, don't get jealous. This is only a memory and not how she feels now." Nate took a deep breath and realized that he might see somethings that he didn't want to but couldn't do anything about. **

**"Ok. When will she arrive?" Nate asked as Conner pointed at the door and then vanished into thin air. Nate turned to see Vanessa walk in the room laughing at something Seth said. He watched as they both laughed and then Seth went back to telling his story. **

**"So, when I asked him for the ropes, he had wondered why but I said that I had some business to take care of. He almost called the cops on me until he realized that I was only referring to the training grounds. the look on his face was priceless." They laughed and started getting ready for a fight between them. "Ok, you remember our deal now right?"  
**

**"Please, like I could get really injured by you."**

**Seth looked at her leg and then Nate followed his gaze and almost chocked on air as he saw what had happened to her. On her leg, it looked like a scar that had just formed on her leg and then looked at Vanessa. "I don't know, You had to sit out for two days with that one. I meant our other deal."**

**Vanessa rolled her eyes. "Yes. I remember. We got a lot to do tonight and don't think that I'll go easy on you just because of my leg."**

**"You go easy on me? It would be me going easy on you. I don't want to hurt you like I did then." He went up to her and put his arms around her waist. "You know I hate it when I do that."**

**"Whatever. It wasn't until I had to stop because of the pain that we stopped." She put her arms around his neck. **

**"If I had know about it sooner, I wouldn't have and you know it." He said as he gave a slight kiss on her cheek. "I won't go easy on you but if you get hurt enough, I will stop." He said. Nate wanted to punch him for kissing his girl but remembered that she wasn't his in this memory and that he wouldn't have been able to punch him if he wanted. The couple had let go of each other and then finished their wrapping up their arms. They both got in the ring and Nate sat on the side lines and watched the two. It went on for many hours and he not only learned a few moves from them but that the room was more different than he had thought. there wasn't a simulator room and there wasn't any rock walls. After a while, he had walked around the place and down the hall he had never been before. It was an almost empty bedroom and bathroom. It looked as though she hadn't spent any time here except for the slept in bed. As he went into the walk in closet though, he saw lots and lots of boxes. As if she had just placed them there. There were only a few clothes that she had out and hung up but otherwise, the room was empty. **

**"If this was 6 years ago, I wonder what it looks like now." He wondered to himself but decided that he would see later on. He had wondered back into the training room and saw that they were really sweaty and in an intense part of their fight. They had many small cuts and bruises already forming. He looked at the clock and was shocked. "Was I really in there for the past three hours?" He didn't think it took him that long but then he refocused on what the two fighters were doing. Vanessa looked like she was ready to finish this fight and was about to kick Seth off his feet on to the ground but he was surprised as Seth beat her to it and then watched as Vanessa fell to the ground and looked to be in really bad pain. She was holding the leg that he saw the scar on and blood was coming out of it. He ran to her and noticed how much smaller she seemed to be. "Well, 6 years would do that." He thought. **

**"Vanessa?" Nate could tell how much Seth had cared for her by just saying her name. Nate was now kneeling beside Vanessa as she was clutching her leg and the blood kept coming. He watched as she removed her hands and then saw how bad it was. He turned to Seth to see what he would do. Surly he would rush her to the nearest hospital. It was a really deep cut. Seth showed no emotion on his face and so he looked back at Vanessa's worried look. **

**"Nothing that won't heal in a week or two."**

**"That bad?" Nate was shocked. **

**"A WEEK? MAYBE TWO? Was he nuts? She would have to be out for a month at least." He thought to himself. **

**"Yeah. Let's get you home. It will be the last few hours that you will be able to see your father and you need to get wrapped up." Vanessa frowned and then tried to stand but couldn't. "Hey, I'll help you." He picked her up and then stood. Nate became worried about her but remembered that she would be all fine. She was his girl after all. He blinked and he was in the same white space he was in before he went to the mountain. Conner was in front of him again. **

**"So, What was the lesson that you learned there?"**

**"Um," Nate thought about it. "I don't know." **

**"What did you see?"**

**"That she had yet to really move into that room yet, that she has yet to show me some of her best fighting moves, that-"**

**"More than that. What did you see about her? The training room?"**

**"Well, There wasn't a simulator room, that she-"**

**"What else about the room?"**

**"There weren't any rock walls." **

**"SO what does that tell you?"**

**"She..." He thought about it. If he was asking these questions now, there must be a reason. "I don't know."**

**"Ok, Tell me about her."**

**"She was definitely smaller but that was 6 years ago. It would be strange if she was the same height now. Umm. She got hurt, really bad and I had noticed that she had had that cut scar over but I could tell that it was still somewhat fresh. It reopened when she was fighting with Seth. That's when they stopped. He had then helped her and that's when it stopped and you come in."**

**"Alright, so, you say that she had a scar where the wound had opened?" **

**"Yeah. But what does that have to do with anything?"**

**"I'm going to show you one more memory but that will be tonight. You go back to dreaming the dream that you were having with Vanessa. Remember, I don't want any of that 'fun' between you two got it?"**

**"Yeah, I'm not like that anyway."**

**"I know. That's why I like you. Don't hurt my daughter though. You don't want to get on my bad side." He vanished and he found himself with his girl in his arms again but looking at him strangely. **

**"What's wrong?"**

**"Nothing."**

**"It has to be something. You had spaced out." **

**"Oh, I'm sorry. I just. You know what? It's not important." Vanessa looked at him weirdly but he placed his hand below her chin and lifted it up. "You know I missed you and that I wouldn't ever do anything like that willingly right?" She nodded her head and he kissed her.**

He had forgotten what happened after that but got up and took a shower. Afterwards, he got dressed and headed down the stairs to his car. On his way out, he said goodbye to his parents. He decided to go to Vanessa's house to see if she was there or had come during the night. He had lots of thoughts in his head as he went there and almost complexly forgot about the dream he had. He had parked in front of her house in hopes that she was there. He went up to the house and debated to himself on the way if he should just walk in or not. He decided that it was best if he just rang the doorbell. Vanessa's mother had opened the door as if she had just woken up and had been up all night. She had her long black hair back in a loose pony tail and had pajamas and a fuzzy pink robe on. "Hey Nate, I'm sorry but she's not back. Her father went up there a while ago to see what she will do. He should be back any minute. If you would like, I have some breakfast here."

His hope was fading faster and faster. She wasn't here. She might not come down for a while then. "No, I've got to go and get Scotty."

"Oh, ok. I'm sorry."

"No, It's ok. She still might go to school." He was giving up his hope. "I'll see you later. Hopefully." He said as he left Veronica and headed for the car. He started to drive to Scotty's house. When he arrived, he slowly opened the door and knocked on it at the same time. The Fluff ball that he had gotten to know ran to his feet and circled around him. "Anyone Home!?" He yelled knowing that someone would hear him. Scotty's sister came out of the hallway and went to pick up the little fluff ball.

"Hey Nate." She said. She was only 12 years old and she still openly flirted with him. "Nate's in his room."

"Thanks."

The girl giggled. "No problem. Are you hungry?"

"No thanks. I just need to get Scotty." He went down the hallway to where he knew Scotty would be. When he opened the door, he heard what sounded like a gasp from behind him and then what sounded like Vanessa's voice in a faint wisper ask what happened. He looked around to see if he had just heard it or what.

"What?" Scotty asked.

"Oh, I thought that I heard something. It looks like you are all ready for school."

"Eh, I just wish that I didn't have to go on crutches."

"Yeah but you have to. Let's go and get some breakfast."

"Ok." Nate went over to Scotty and helped him and then they went back through the hallway and to Nate's car. They went to the Breakfast Place and as they went in, he regretted it. Cassandra was there but she seemed to be distracted by her few friends around her and they were giggling. Cassandra had her back to them and so he hoped that she wouldn't notice them.

"Hello Nate, do you want you're usual table?" the person behind the counter asked.

"Not today. Could I sit over there?"

The waiter nodded and then went over to the open table that Nate asked to sit at. "Would you like your normal breakfast?"

"Yes."

"Alright and now that you are here, I have to ask you. Are you paying for Cassandra's meal or is she paying for herself?"

Nate thought about it. If she came here thinking that he would pay for her, then she was sadly mistaken. He would have to tell the other restaurants that he was no longer paying for her. "No, but give her half the paycheck and tell her that this would be the last thing that I'm paying for, for her"

"Alright. Your breakfast will be here as soon as possible."

"Thank you." The waiter left and then Nate looked at Scotty who was staring at him, giving him an odd look. "What?"

"Are you ok?"

"Yeah, why?"

"It's just a week ago, you were only thinking about her but now you're this."

"What's wrong with this? You all hated her, I just opened my eyes to the truth."

"Man, I hope that Vanessa comes back, and soon if she made you change this much in such a short amount of time. I like the new you."

"I do too." He looked out the window and then felt someone sit next to him. He knew who it was just by how she was acting. "What do you want?"

"Nothing."

"Then why are you here?"

"I thought that we could just talk, like how we were a week ago or a month ago."

"No. You have done too much damage to ever be a friend in my life again."

"Oh, so does that mean that that bitch isn't going to school anymore?"

"No, She's going to be here today. We have talked and she understands. We are still a couple and you being here doesn't help you or me. Goodbye."

"If you want it that way. But you will regret it."

"I doubt it." He knew that he had nothing to worry about. He didn't even turn around to her as they talked. She left and then he looked back at Scotty.

"I thought that-"

"I lied. We haven't talked and I don't know where we stand but if I told her that, she would try something. Anything to get her grip on me again. You know it."

"Yeah but it fell off your tongue as if it were true. How long have you thought of what to say if anything like that happened?"

"I don't know." He turned and saw that the food was coming. "Eat up. You need to gain your strength if you want that to heal properly and faster."

"Yeah." He said as his eyes lit up as he saw his food. They ate and then left and Nate looked back at where Cassandra was sitting just in time for her to get the bill. He saw her eyes widen and then he smirked and then held the door open for Scotty. They drove to school and Nate became more anxious as he got closer to the school. He got out of his truck but he didn't see Vanessa's truck or Seth's truck. She might have gotten dropped of already or hasn't gotten there yet. He went to the outside of his first hour where most of his buddies were. They started asking how he was and what the story was between him and Vanessa. He simply replied that he couldn't confirm nor deny that they are still in a relationship. He was surprised to hear that all of the guys were into this gossip on him. When the second bell rang, he and his friends in his first hour, went inside. He had given up on this pathetic hope. She wasn't coming today. She already would have if she was. He went into the classroom and sat at his desk. He took out his sketch book and started drawing. When the last bell rang, he had heard Mr. Sy say something but didn't care to listen to him today.

"You know, It's really rude to ignore your girlfriend." Nate looked up slowly and then when their eyes met, he stood up and was in complete shock. She was here, right in front of him. It wasn't possible was it? He watched as she smiled and then wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry, I over reacted."

'Wow. Did she really just say that?' He thought. 'She's really here.' He then tried to say something but nothing came out. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him to make sure that this wasn't some sort of dream. She pulled away from him and looked at him. He once again tried to say something and all that came out was soft and whispered. "Hi." It was more of a breath of him sighing in relief. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pull him close again.

"Hi." He returned her embrace and hugged her tighter. "After class, we need to talk." Nate nodded and let her go. They both sat down and looked at the front of the class.

"Does anyone care to update me on the latest gossip on them?" Mr. Sy said as he watched as he sat down.

Nate laughed and then looked back at Vanessa. She rolled her eyes and then looked at Cassandra. Nate watched as Vanessa's smile went to a glare that even scared him. A guy in the front row raised his hand and Mr. Sy nodded saying that he can speak."Mr. Sy, It's a long story but to sum it up, Cassandra kissed Nate and Vanessa saw it at the wrong time and thought that Nate was kissing Cassandra. What I've heard was that she disappeared after that and this is the first that anyone has seen her. Everyone knows that Cassandra got an ugly warning from one of Vanessa's friends and ran off in fear."

"That's not true!" Cassandra yelled trying to get everyone to see that she was the victim and not Vanessa. When she saw that she had everyone's attention except for Vanessa's she spoke again. "After Nate won the tournament, I decided to congratulate him and when I went to hug him and congratulate him-"

"Hold on Cassandra, I have an Idea. This is government class isn't it? Well, let's learn about the court system." He stood there with a smile on his face. He had just made the latest gossip into a lesson for the day. This was what they had learned about and will be learning this week anyway. Everyone got up and started rearranging the desks. "Alright, So I will be the judge. Danny, you will pick 11 other people to be in the jury with you and then you three." He pointed to Vanessa, Nate and Cassandra. "You will be the defendant and the plaintiff. Both will have a lawyer and you can choose anyone that doesn't have a job." He then turned to two others assigning them to be the court clerk and the court reporter. Nate knew that Cassandra was already going to be the defendant because she was already trying to defend herself.

They were soon set up and Mr. Sy was sitting at his desk. Nate had sat where he was told and he picked a guy he knew was good at negotiating as their lawyer. Vanessa was the first one to tell her side of the story and Nate almost didn't want to hear it. He was too afraid of what she would have to say. She was asked all of these questions that were just being asked to stop the rumors that were created. The one that stuck out to Nate was 'Where was she hiding all this weekend. He knew the answer but wondered what she would say because she had to tell the truth. "I was at a fighting gym and was training." He wasn't that shocked that she wasn't specific as saying that she owned a place on an unknown mountain that she trained. "I had to get my anger out of me before I hurt her. Otherwise I would have been kicked out of the ring." Vanessa was dismissed and it was now Cassandra's turn to talk. Nate had to keep a close ear on what she said as so she couldn't lie. Well, I'll start with the night before the tournament. I was at the store going to get some things that my mother needed and I saw Nate walking in. I went up to him to talk but all he would do was either ignore me or tell me to stop bothering him. I told him that I was going to watch him at the tournament tomorrow and hope to see him win. He blocked me out. I was going to have him at least be my friend again. We had been dating for 2 years now and I didn't want him to just leave my life. He's a part of it. So the next day, I went to the tournament and was surprised not to see Vanessa there. Apparently she had other and more important things to do than watch her boyfriend win the tournament. I had sat with Nate's parents who sat next to Vanessa's parents and friend." She said friend as though Vanessa and Seth were more than just friends. "I was there watching the fighters and when Nate got hurt in the Semi finals, I offered to take him to the medical room that was set up for the injured fighters but Nate once again shoved me away and had Vanessa's friend help him. When I saw him win the tournament, I got really excited and so I wanted to be one of the first ones to congratulate him. Vanessa wasn't there anyway, someone needed to do it. It also just came naturally because I had seen him win many other tournaments. I got into the ring and went to hug him but he was facing the other way and so I turned him around and I tripped a little and kissed him."

"Objection! She didn't trip your honor." Nate yelled out. He knew that or he would have caught her. She was trying to make it sound like it was only an accident and he wouldn't stand for it.

"Noted." Me. Sy seemed pleased that this was working out and better than he thought. "Please precede Cassandra."

"Well, When I noticed that I was kissing him, I jumped back and I also felt Nate push me." He knew that was also a lie. She didn't jump back. She actually tried not to get pushed back by him as he tried to stop her. "I lost balance and fell backwards. Then I saw something land near Nate's feet and He started to run after someone. I looked at the thing on the ground and saw Vanessa's mother run over and pick it up before I could grab it and give it to Nate. I then thought that something was wrong and so I decided to leave. Some of the fighters that lost their match had stopped me and started talking to me. Some of them were even hitting on me. That's when Nate and Vanessa's friend came up to me and threatened me after I told them that I knew from the start that Vanessa wasn't good for him." She was then asked what they said. Nate knew perfectly well what they had said to her and believed that Seth would do what he said he would. Nate watched as Cassandra started to 'cry' trying to get emotional sympathy from everyone in the room. "They said that if I didn't leave Nate alone that they would... they would make me never see daylight and I would with that they had killed me."

She twisted what they said and He knew it. He couldn't hear her lies again. "Objection!" Nate yelled again.

"Nate, Let her finish and then you can tell your story. That objection is noted too." Mr. Sy nodded to Cassandra to finish.

"Thank you. By now, I had been frightened by Vanessa's friend." She still emphasized the word friend. "I ran out of the place and tried to get as far away as could from them. I knew about Vanessa's past and by the way that he was talking, I could tell who her influence was. He was worse than all the stories about her and I knew that he would keep his promise." She then waited to be questioned. There weren't any questions because they all knew that she was going to tell more lies. She stood and then went back to her seat.

It was Now Nate's turn. He needed to set things straight with what Cassandra said and that's just what he did. He was well respected and most would believe that he would tell the truth of what happened better than Cassandra just did. He started with the night before, just as Cassandra did. He then went through Saturday's events and ended with after the tournament. Then I went to see how Scotty was doing in the hospital. After that, I went to see if I could try and reason with Vanessa. Yes, I knew where she was at and she was telling the truth when she said that she was at a fighting gym. She took me there once and Seth took me there. She had a training room to herself and she locked herself away and trained. I couldn't get in there and so I left her necklace and her birthday present there for her." He heard many of the girls in the room gasp. "Yes, it was Vanessa's birthday Saturday. I had something else special planned but I couldn't do that because of what happened." He then waited for any questions. He was asked what he got her as a present and he looked at Vanessa. She was wearing her necklace but he didn't know if she had the charm with her. "It was a butterfly pendant. Because when I'm around her, she gives them to me in my stomach." All of the girls made an aww at the meaning behind it.

"That is all." Mr. Sy said as he looked at the jury. "We will now take your final statements."

Vanessa stood. "I don't care if Cassandra still thinks that I am the one that made him break up with her and go out with me but she is the one that almost made Nate and I break up. Thankfully I have realized that she is the reason and Nate was not."

She sat down and Nate stood. "I may have been with Cassandra but that's over and has been for a while. My heart lies with Vanessa now and there was nothing that could change that." There was another aww from the girls in the room.

Nate sat down and Cassandra stood up. "I may have accidentally kissed Nate but if it wasn't for that Bitch that stole him away from me, this would have never happened."

She sat down and Mr. Sy looked at the clock. It was 5 min. till the bell rang. "I know that this isn't how it usually works but we are almost out of time and so I have all given you a whiteboard and marker if you think that Cassandra is in the wrong than you put guilty. If you think otherwise than write not guilty on the board. The one that has the most wins. They waited until they were all done. writing and then they were told to hold their whiteboards up. only three of them said not guilty and they were Cassandra's friends that she had cried to all weekend. "Alright, they have spoken. Cassandra is found guilty of trying to break Nate and Vanessa up." The people in the class that were the audience cheered and Vanessa turned to Nate and hugged him.

"I'm sorry I ever blamed this on you."

"It's alright, you're here now."

She pulled away from him. "Um. About that."

"What?"

"I'm going to get tested out of high school and am going to get kicked out after I beat up Cassandra." Nate rolled his eyes.

"Your father said that we needed to talk about a lot of things."

"Come with me to lunch. We can talk about everything then."

"But I need to take Scotty with me."

"Ok, We can take him to my house, I have room in my truck for him and we can both help him in and out of the truck."

"Ok. When are you testing out?"

"During second and third hour. I should be done by lunch. When I come back after lunch, I will go and kick Cassandra's ass and then go to the office to get my finished paperwork. Since I tested out of this school, I will go to the graduation ceremony at the end of the year but until then, I'm not coming back. I have to beat Cassandra up not only because she deserves it but because then all the other girls won't go after you once I leave." Vanessa turned her head to the door when the bell rang. They both stood up and then Mr. Sy called them over.

"Well, Vanessa, I hear that you are on the list of people who wish to test out of school today. Not many are taking it. Are you up for the challenge?"

"It won't really be a challenge, I've learned all of what they are testing me on and I'm not worried."

"I will miss the drama that seems to attract around Nate's personal life. It would be best if both of you were here to tell me what's going on but I guess that having Nate in here will have to do. There is no doubt in my mind that you will pass the test and be out of this class." Mr. Sy then whispered something in Vanessa's ear but Nate couldn't hear it. When he pulled back, he smiled and Vanessa's eyes were wide with shock. He didn't know what he said but he would probably hear about it later.

"Your father and I go way back. We used to train together."

Vanessa smiled and then looked back at Nate. "I guess I should be going, the test starts in 5 minutes."

Nate smiled and then kissed her cheek. "I'll see you in the parking lot then?"

"At Lunch." He smiled as they went on their own way to their different classes. Nate had less trouble with girls today than most days but he still had to shake some off. The hours went by slowly and Nate couldn't think of anything but how Vanessa was doing on the test. He hoped that she passed but he also began to worry what would happen if she wasn't here. He hoped that things wouldn't change much and that Cassandra would leave him alone. After it was time to to to lunch, he met up with Scotty at the parking lot. "Hey."

"Hey, I heard what happened in your first hour. So everything's ok between you two?"

"Yeah. We're going to her house for lunch. Veronica is the best cook in the world."

"Who's Veronica?"

"Vanessa's mother."

"Oh, ok. I see her truck over there."

"Yep, we're going in her truck, so let's wait for her over there." He said as they started walking again.

"Hey."

Nate turned around and smiled when he saw Vanessa. "Hi."

Scotty turned his head towards Vanessa as she started walking closer to them. "Hey Vanessa. I'm glad that you and Nate made up. I didn't know if I was going to hear the end of it from him." Vanessa smiled and then they all started walking to her truck. Nate gave an annoyed look at Scotty. He didn't talk about her that much did he? He saw Scotty smirk at him and then Nate helped him into Vanessa's truck. "This is Your house?" Scotty asked as they approached Vanessa's house. Nate was then reminded when he first found out that this was Vanessa's house. He had almost the same reaction as Scotty. "If you think that's good, you should see the inside." He said and then smiled as he heard Vanessa laugh a little. The thought of Seth popped in his head and so he decided to ask her. "Vanessa?"

"Hm?"

"Where's Seth?"

"Oh, he's off training others today. He and his brother volunteered last night."

He couldn't help himself from asking her his next question. "When did you decide to go home?"

"Well, I decided to go home yesterday evening when my mother left but I haven't told her and the only one that knows is my father. I haven't really been home yet. I left the mountain this morning for school and I didn't stop by or anything."

"That reminds me, We are going to talk right?"

"Yeah, I just need to speak with my father first." Nate nodded and She parked in her garage. When they got Scotty out of the truck and went inside, Veronica was in the kitchen and Conner was in the living room. "MOM! I'm home!" She yelled and both Nate and Scotty sat on the couch. Vanessa's mother ran in from the kitchen with tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

When she saw her daughter, she ran to her and gave her a tight hug. "Don't you ever scare me like that again."

"You saw me yesterday."

"I know but I didn't know when I would see you again and I was afraid that you would just stay up there. I didn't think that anything that I said would sink in and you would... Would..." Vanessa could feel her mother start sobbing. She didn't think that her mother cared that much of what she did with her life. Ever since the second move, her mother started to drift away from her life.

"Well, I'm back now but I'm not going to go to school anymore." Her mother looked at her confused. "I took the test to test out of school and there's no doubt that I passed. I'm going back to get my results and beat up Cassandra." Now her mother gave her a dirty look of disapproval. "Don't blame me. She's got it coming and it was father that told me that I had to if I wanted all the other girls to stay away from Nate when I'm not there. I need to scare them and this is the way to do it." Her mother then turned and put her hands on her hips and then glared at her husband. He hadn't been back for a full week and he was already causing problems.

Vanessa's father stood in defense and Nate and Scotty watched as Vanessa's mother started yelling at Vanessa's father for saying that getting into a fight would fix all of her problems. Vanessa came in and said, "It's not like I wouldn't have beaten her ass anyway. She has it coming. He only told me that I would have to do it if I want the other girls in the school to not to through them selves at him. You should have seen them when he was single. They were huddled around him and they tried to follow him into the bathroom. That's not going to happen when I'm not there." Vanessa's mother seemed to understand and Vanessa pointed at her father. "We need to talk." He nodded and then followed her into the kitchen.

Nate watched Veronica as she sat down on the love seat next to him. "So, Who are you?" She asked Scotty.

"My name is Scotty ma'am"

"HI Scotty, My name is Veronica. I'm Vanessa's mother if you couldn't tell and that man in there is Vanessa's father, Conner." Scotty nodded. "So, Nate," Veronica said getting serious. "How did you fix things up with Vanessa? Did she say what made her change her mind? Was it my brilliant speech? Or was it what her father said to her?" Nate could see the change in her expression as Veronica saw the damage of Scotty's leg. "Oh, Darling, are you the one that broke his ankle at the tournament?"

"Yeah, you were there?"

"Yes. My husband loves fighting. It where Vanessa got her talent from. He taught her almost everything she knows. You were doing great until that happened. It looked painful. Do you need an ice pack? Anything that could make you feel better?"

"I could have my leg healing faster than it is. Although I can't do anything about that."

"I might get something that might help, but only a little bit."

"Vanessa!" Nate yelled hoping that her conversation with her father was over. He didn't want to see Veronica baby Scotty right now, and probably not ever.

She came out soon after and had an almost forced smiled on her face. "Mother, if you need me or Nate, we will be in my room." She turned and Nate stood up from sitting on the couch. He followed Vanessa to her room and when she went in, she went straight to her balcony. Nate started of many bad things that Vanessa had to talk about with him. He slowly and hesitantly closed the door.

"What ever it is, I can take it." He said as he walked up behind her. She turned to see him three feet behind her standing there awkwardly not knowing what to do. Vanessa walked up to him and wrapping her arms around him, she put her head on his shoulder and sighed.

"Nate, I'm sorry."

"It's ok, I thought we went through this." He said while wrapping his arms around her waist. He thought that she was talking about Saturday.

"That's not what I'm sorry for."

He slightly pulled away from her without letting her go and looked at her. "What is it?"

"I've hidden something from you and I need to tell you before this continues."

He held her tighter but brought one hand up to her chin to have her look at him. "What ever it is, It won't change anything."

She pulled away from him and then walked to her balcony. She took off her bracelet and then looked back at him. "You are right about my father. He can see the future." He nodded knowing that he was right about that. He wanted to know why though so he waited, not wanting to interrupt her. "Nate," She took a breath. He didn't know why she was so nervous about telling something that she obviously wanted to tell him. "I'm not human." Now he wanted to intervene. Not Human? Did he hear her right? "I'm not an alien with special powers or from another planet. She reached behind her neck to get ready to take off her necklace. "I'm an angel." He was becoming more and more confused. An Angel? He must be hearing things. He couldn't have heard her right. Right? His eyes widened as she had wings appear behind her. "My father is too and that's why he can read minds."

There was silence for a minute before he walked over to her and ran his hand over the top of her right-wing and smiled. She was his Angel. She had saved him from Cassandra. He was in nothing but Awe as he felt her soft wings. He wondered what the softest feather he had touched and knew that this was so much softer. "Wow." It was all he could say before he gathered his thoughts. "This is unexpected." They locked eyes after he said that and then the questions began to flood into his head. "Why did you hide this?"

"It's almost forbidden for humans to know. There's a lot to explain so this might take a while." He nodded and she put her necklace back on. He began to wonder why she took it off but realized that when she put it on, her wings disappeared. "First of all," She started as she put her bracelet on. "My mother is human and my father is a full-blooded Angel." She sat with her back against the rails of her balcony and Nate sat next to her intertwining their fingers. She rested her head on his shoulder. "It is only under certain circumstances that Angels can reveal to others what they are. Think of it like an aristocracy. There is a group of Angels that sees over everything and makes sure that everything is followed by the rules. They are called the council. Only few are chosen for it, they can't back out and they have no control over it. They are chosen at a young age and are chosen because of the power they posses. My father was chosen and that's why he has been gone for so long and the reason we moved the first time. He was chosen because he can see the future." All he could do was absorb this information that she was giving him. Different questions and thoughts pooped in his head as she was explaining things. He's not the only one with a power but he is the only one that has that power. Some powers are common and others only have one person that has it. I have a unique power too." She looking at the ground when Nate looked at her almost in realization. "I also might be one of the few Angels that have more than one power. We don't know what it is yet but before you ask, yes, I have been chosen to be in the council. That's why I couldn't be at your match Saturday. Every year on my birthday i have a meeting with them and I hate it. I hate them They are nothing but a bunch of old men that care only about themselves. My father is the only exception and maybe Mr. Sy. I still need to talk to my dad about that."

He couldn't stop his shock. "Mr. Sy is an Angel!?"

"I didn't know until after class today. That's why I have to talk to my father about it. Seth is also an Angel. He's full-blooded though."

Nate stopped holding her hand and put his arm around her. This was his time to ask questions. He couldn't be told a lot more because he couldn't stop his questions now. "So, if you were chosen for this council, and your father had too, why aren't you gone like him all the time?"

"Well, I'm not of age. Angels have to become of age before they could join any type of council. There are many different ones but this one is the highest of the highest. My father is of age and has been for several years now. Angels become of age at 40. I'm not leaving any time soon."

"So are Angels beings that are 'dead' and liven in heaven or are they like humans but live in some place like a separate dimension?"

"Yes and no. Yes, we are like humans but we can live anywhere we please. I'm living here aren't I?" Nate nodded and she continued. "No, because it's not a separate dimension and we can die. Even before we die, we can choose are path. There are dark and evil Angels. Some humans like to mix them up with demons but demons can change shape. Angels can't. If we choose to go dark or be evil, we die instantly. My Father, even though he is a full-blooded Angel, has some dark Blood in him because his father was a dark Angel. I have dark blood in me but only enough to give me limited power. I don't use it often but when I do, It is because of a purpose and I use it for good. Dark Angels don't have powers like the good angels. They all have the same powers. Before you come to the conclusion yourself, I am the one that gave that cut to Cassandra. When I saw how you two were and how she was hurting you, I figured that she needed to feel it too. I knew that I shouldn't have done it psychologically but I knew that by doing that, you would be hurt too so I hurt her physically. She caught me at the diner when I took away the spell and so she called me a witch. Despite what you and many others might believe, there are no good witches and they are all looked down upon by the Angels. That's why Seth snapped when she called me a witch. It's worse than anything that I could have called her. Any time she got jealous of you or flirted with someone else, she would feel pain. Then On Saturday, and I left, I gave her another one but this one is different. She's going to have a scar that looks like a cat scratched her. Anytime that she touches you, she will feel pain. It won't bleed like the first one, it will just be a scar."

"Ok, I see your reasoning. Now, You said that Seth is an Angel too?"

"Yeah."

"What's his power?"

"He can sense people's emotions."

"You have yet to tell me your power."

"I have a photographic memory and I can sort of tell if someone is easy of convincing or really stubborn but the council doesn't really count that as a power."

"What do you think is your second power?"

"I don't know what to call it but when I meditate, I can," She hesitated and Nate knew she was trying to find a way to describe it. "It's as if I'm... It's an 'out of body' experience."

"How?"

"Well, I don't really know, it started the day that you brought me to the ring. I was meditating and I started hearing your footsteps and then I started seeing you open and lock doors when you were closing up. Then this morning I was meditating and It was as if I was with you since you woke up." This made Nate connect the dots to this morning. "What?"

"It's just, I thought I heard your voice at Scotty's house this morning."

"I was there. I don't really have any control over it yet so sometimes it doesn't happen but most of the time it happens."

"Hmm." He noticed as she looked up from the ground. He was starting to wrap his head around all of this and was doing it easier than he expected. He was sure that he knew the answer to his next question but didn't want to assume it wrong. "So, Why aren't your wings out now?"

She pointed to her necklace that Nate had given her. "My mother puts a special spell that she was taught by Seth's mother that makes my wings retract on this necklace and my bracelet. It's so I can live in this world without being found out. Seth has one too."

"Hm." Nate stood up and put his hand out for Vanessa. She took it and when she got on her feet, Nate put his arms around her. "Thank you."

"For?"

"Telling me. I was wondering a lot and couldn't get any answers from your parents or Seth. I they said that I would have to ask you about it."

"Thank you, for understanding."

"What did I tell you before? What ever it was, It wasn't going to change anything." She looked up at him and kissed him. The familiar spark was there and it was inviting and it didn't hurt him. Nate heard Veronica yell about lunch but he didn't want this to end so he pulled Vanessa closer to him. She was the one for him. His girl, sole mate, some say. This was going to work for the both of them. Vanessa broke the kiss and said, "We should go eat lunch."

"I think I'm looking at something sweet right now." He said before he kissed her again. He knew that they needed to eat but he didn't want this to end but if he thought about it, this didn't end. It was the start. The start of Forever.

She smiled and then pulled away from him. "I need lunch."

"Ok." He smiled and they walked down to the living room. Scotty was lying down on the couch and eating a bunch of grilled cheese. He wasn't that surprised at the amount of sandwiches that he was eating but it seemed that Vanessa was. They walked into the kitchen and Vanessa's father was at the counter eating and Vanessa was placing a few sandwiches on a plate and then some fruit. "Hey, here's your guys's plate. If I knew that Scotty ate so much, I would have bought more plates." She gave a dirty look to her husband.

"It's no problem Veronica. I think we can share a plate." Nate said as he grabbed the plate and then walked to the living room.

Vanessa stayed back but he didn't think anything of it. He walked into the living room and sat down on the floor and put the plait on the coffee table. "Hi Nate." Seth said "This is my younger brother Eric."

"Hi." Eric said.

"Hello."

"It's ok, we have met Scotty before you came down. I'm surprised at how much he can eat though."

"Yeah, He's been like that ever since I met him."

"I was surprised when I saw that you eat as much as he does when I first saw you eat."

"I guess you get used to things like that."

"I guess so." He said as he took one of the sandwiches off of his plate. Vanessa came out and sat next to him and grabbed herself a sandwich.

"Vanessa?" Eric started "I met someone today and he says that he knows you. I was surprised because he was coming out of a training session with Seth."

"Really?" She looked at Seth. "Who?"

"I don't know. I trained lots of people today and none of them mentioned that to me."

"Well, He was about your age and had longish black hair. He had on a plain black undershirt and had bright blue eyes."

"Oh, him?" Seth asked. "I didn't recognize him from anywhere." Nate began to wonder who this guy was. He knew that he had nothing to worry about but still wanted to know. He could feel the anger coming from Vanessa so he put his arm around her and pulled her slightly closer to him.

"What is it?" He asked quietly.

"I know him. His name is Prince. I find it fitting because he is the prince of all stupidity."

"How did he know that I knew you?" Eric asked.

Nate watched as Vanessa looked at Scotty and knew that he was an Angel. He had to be if she just didn't come out and say it. "His mind is well-developed. It's almost as if he could read people's mind." He got the hint telling him that it was his power, to read minds. "We met when we were both chosen for the council."

"Wait, he was chosen?" Seth asked shockingly.

"Yeah. Only one other has had his ability and now has earned his halo."

Nate looked at her and she leaned over and whispered that she would explain later. He nodded and smiled. Scotty finally seemed to finish his food and let out a loud burp. Eric and Seth started laughing. Nate smirked at the two laughing Angels in front of him and then scowled at Scotty. Vanessa put her head on his shoulder and then whispered in his ear, "It's ok, not the best I've heard. Those two over there are the champs at it." Nate laughed and Vanessa took the plate. It was now empty and she brought it to the kitchen.

Nate heard the burping contest between the two brothers and his friend. He could burp better than the ones that he was listening to but never really let one go in front of his girlfriend. No matter who she was. He looked at the clock and then stood up. "Well, it's been fun, and It's been nice meeting you Eric but Scotty and I have to go back to school."

"Ok." Scotty said as he sat up. Nate walked over to him and helped him up.

"It's time to leave?"

"Yeah, unlike you, some of us still have to go to school." Nate teased. Vanessa rolled her eyes.

"I'm going back. Just today's my last day." She said as she looked back into the kitchen. Nate and Scotty were going in the garage where the truck was and he helped Scotty in the truck. He got in and then Vanessa got in the driver's seat. He had been thinking of it for a while but knew that she might actually say yes today so before she started the truck, he stopped her hand. She looked at him confused and he leaved over to whisper in her ear. "Meet me at the ring after school. I have an idea if your up to it."

"Ok." She then drove to school. When he got there, they helped Scotty out and got him to his next class. They then had a few minutes to spare and walked to the front office to get her test results. The teacher that gave it to her was there and when Vanessa walked in, her eyes widened. "I'm here for my test results."

"Ms. Black?"

"Yes."

"I'm surprised to say that you passed with a perfect score. How did you?"

"Photographic memory and I've been waiting to take this test for a while but all the other schools I went to, I had to be a senior to take it."

"Ahh. Well, you have a choice, are you going to get your diploma in the mail or are you going to graduation at the end of the school year?"

"I'm going to go to graduation."

"Alright. Here you go." She handed the paperwork to Vanessa and smiled. "Congratulations Ms. Black. I'll see you in the spring."

Vanessa nodded and then left with Nate. "So, when is this fight going to happen?"

"Right now." He saw the smirk that was on her face and then he looked around to see Cassandra with a few of her friends that he couldn't ever tolerate. He followed a little farther back but still followed.

"What do you want?" Cassandra said as she glared at Vanessa.

"Payback." Nate could hear the anger and content in her voice. He watched as Vanessa's fist collided with Cassandra's face. Cassandra fell and when her friends helped her up, he saw the blood from her nose.

'that's not where Vanessa hit her was it?' He contemplated it. 'No, she hit her in the eye. She must have broken her nose from the landing after that ugly fall.'

"You are going to pay!" He heard Cassandra yell.

'That's a big mistake.' he thought as he saw her try and hit Vanessa but Vanessa caught her wrist and pulled her up to stand on her feet.

"I don't think so." She tightened her grip. "You kissed my boyfriend in an attempt to break us up but what you don't understand is that I know you have cheated on him before and that's why you were so concerned about him cheating on you. You didn't deserve him and he tolerated you anyway. It's over and so go look for someone else to feel insecure about. Don't you ever touch him again." Nate looked around as there was a group of people forming around them. The 10 min. bell rang but no one went to leave, if anything, more people showed up.

"Look bitch. You have flipped my world upside down. I don't deny that you are a pretty toy for guys to look at but I'm sure that you are used and when Nate realizes it, he'll come crawling back to me. I don't give a fuck that you know of my past but I know of yours you Wit-" She couldn't finish her sentence because Vanessa popped a good one and broke a tooth. Cassandra and her friend both lost their balance and Cassandra spit blood.

Nate walked up behind Vanessa and put his arm around her. "Did you get any blood on you?"

"No." Vanessa smiled and looked at her knuckles.

"Cassandra?" Nate said wanting to say something.

She looked up at her ex-boyfriend with some hope. "Yes?"

"Vanessa isn't used but almost every guy on campus can agree with me when I say that you are the most used and trashed piece of slutty shit there is." He saw the hope fade and be replaced from hope to regret and anger.

"You might want to call a teacher now. She's going to need her nose looked at. If they ask, she fell down the many flights of stairs and you tried to carry her somewhere and she lost balance and broke her nose." Vanessa said as she left the scene. Nate followed as they went to her they was at her truck she turned to him. "So I guess I'll see you at the ring when school's over."

"Yep." He went to kiss her cheek and she turned so he caught her lips. He didn't object and pulled her close to him. He liked that she did that. He only went to kiss her cheek because of the PDA thing that she had said when they first started dating a few days ago. When the minute bell rang, she broke the kiss and gave him a small peck as she turned and got in her truck. He smiled and went to class. He wasn't yelled at for being late because everyone was late. Almost everyone was caught up on what happened and the story behind it. He went back to the scene and there was an ambulance and a news truck. Cassandra looked out of it and wouldn't speak at all. He heard some of what the news lady said but didn't care. All of the students were now afraid of what Vanessa MIGHT do to them if they told what actually happened. He saw Mr. Sy and now he saw him differently. He began to wonder how old he was. He went up to him and just stood there.

"I know that you know." Mr. Sy said as he crossed his arms in front of his chest but not looking at Nate.

"What?"

Mr. Sy turned to him. "I know that you know what I am. I know that you know how this actually happened."

"How?"

"There is a lot of thins that you have to learn about Angels. I know what happened here. Her dad told me."

"Aren't you going to tell?"

"Are you?"

"No but isn't it your job?"

"I have lots of jobs. Teaching is just a hobby. It doesn't pay much yet I live just as good as you and Vanessa do. You know why too. They pay me. The council that is. It may be in my job description to tell authorities of what really happened but it won't matter if they fire me. They don't know and they will never know. They will fix the stairs because of this though. Vanessa won't get into trouble for this. It's strange. It's when she meets my best student that she changes. I had never expected teaching her, and if I did, I knew it wouldn't be for long. This is the first school that she had gotten in a fight in and won't get in trouble for it."

"It must be something else to be an Angel."

"Only if you're chosen. Vanessa's special though. She's going to do some great things this year."

"Really? Like what?"

"Don't tell her I'm talking to you ok?"

"Alright but I don't like keeping secrets from her."

"You won't have to for more them a month. Trust me on this."

"Ok."

Over the intercom a voice was heard. "Ok, Now that everything has settled down, you have 5 minutes to get to class."

"You better get going."

"Ok." Nate said as he took a look at Mr. Sy and then left. His next class wouldn't learn anything. and as he came to think of it, in all of his classes for the rest of the day, he won't learn anything. All it will be is talk of what happened.

**End of Part One. This chapter is over 11 thousand words. Sorry for the late update but having only 1 or 2 hours during the day doesn't help with long chapters. What do you think of the twists? Tell me and Review.**


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